


The Maze Runner AU Series: Project Elysium Subject A-0; The Chosen One

by Ziphonix2001



Category: The Maze Runner (Movies), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: AU, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Angst, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Bully Gally (Maze Runner), Canon - Book & Movie Combination, Cuddling & Snuggling, Denial of Feelings, Drama, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Glader Slang, Homophobic Language, I Blame Tumblr, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Implied/Referenced Underage Relationship(s), Innocent Flirting, It'll make sense, It's confusing at first, M/M, Male Character has powers, Male Slash, Memory Loss, Mentions of Past Relationship(s) - Freeform, Not Beta Read, Omnilingual Male Character, POV Third Person, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Original Male Character, Sarcasm, Sassy Minho (Maze Runner), Some Humor, Spoilers, Suspense, Teen Romance, Telepathy, Temporary Amnesia, The Author Regrets Nothing, Trust Issues, Why Did I Write This?, characters may or may not be ooc, cursing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-05
Updated: 2019-01-26
Packaged: 2019-07-07 10:17:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 24
Words: 62,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15906267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ziphonix2001/pseuds/Ziphonix2001
Summary: Artemis seems like the ordinary Greenie of the month, truth is….he is not. First because he shows up in the middle of the night, which has never happened before. Two, he is not like a normal human, because, who has that much strength? Or speed? Or can see in the dark like that? Exactly, no one.Don’t forget that he also seems to have a special connection with a certain Second in Command...





	1. Prologue

When the Sun Flares hit the planet fifteen years ago, in the October of year 2136, thousands if not billions of people were killed in just a matter of minutes.  
Everything became worse after that.  
Cities burned to the ground or plunged into the deepest parts of the ocean, families broken and separated, never to be reunited again,true chaos unleashed upon the Earth.  
But it certainly wasn’t the end, the events that occured after were the worst anyone had ever expected to happen.  
People had started going mad, even crazy, attacking their kind in blind fury, fueled by an inside enemy, that came to be known as The Flare.  
The worst disease anyone had ever seen since ‘Cholera’ or ‘Ebola’, two of the worst ones humanity had ever experienced in its life.  
And soon enough, the world had become a shadow of itself;  
Where once there were fields of green grass, now there was only sand…  
Where there were cities with buildings so tall they reached the sky, now there were endless ruins of ‘mighty civilizations’…  
Where there were oceans, seas and rivers bringing life to the surface, there was nothing there anymore, only more and more nothingness…  
Now, it is year 2155, and there seems to be hope for a cure, when WCKD, World In Catastrophe Killzone Department, makes quite the discovery. The project they have been working on is proved to be efficient, but it is nowhere near ready, they need to make sure, he truly lives up to the expectations of being the last resort of humanities restoration.  
-WCKD headquarters,Year 2155-  
The sound of heels clicking on marble floor could be heard from meters away, as around the corner came an average woman of around fifty almost sixty years, with short white dress, paired with equal white heels, her striking electric blue eyes staring ahead of her, never faltering in her step as she makes her way to her destination.  
She suddenly stops right in front of a silver metal door, taking a deep breath as her eyes close briefly, mentally preparing herself to face whoever was on the other side of the door.  
She raises her hand to a small panel right on the wall next to it, her fingertips tapping some kind of screen, a beeping noise sounded for a moment, the closed door opening, allowing the woman to enter, the door shutting behind her.  
The room was shrouded in darkness for just a second, before the lights turned on, revealing a rather large conference room; A long grey wooden table stood in the middle, many comfortable looking chairs neatly placed on each side of the desk, on the wall to her left side, was a black bookshelf filled with many archives contrasted with the mainly white interior coloring. And the object that stood out the most, was a big plasma television, with a strange logo of a triangle, with even more weird words underneath it that could easily be read as; W C K D  
It was much more easier to recognize the woman now.  
Ava Paige, the ‘head’ of the WCKD Company that relentlessly searches for a cure to the disease that almost brought humanity to its utter and complete doom.  
She sat down on her special chair, situated right in front of the TV, reaching for her vial necklace, taking out a small pen drive out, she gently slid her fingers across the table, leaving the artefact right in front of her.  
It shone a blue light for a second, beeping rapidly before shooting rays of light on the direction of the chairs.  
Almost immediately, the laser lights took the shape of humans, shady looking characters with only half of their body visible, their faces darkened and not recognizable at all, but for Ava, she was used to it.  
“Chancellor Paige, I presume you have something important to tell us regarding our main project are you not?” The voice of a man was slightly static, but still able to understand.  
“Yes, I have finally come to a decision regarding the Maze Trials. Janson, if you may.” Ava kept a stone face, but smiled as the door to the room opened, a tall man with black grey hair stepped in, the attention of the people focusing on him as he made his way to stand beside Ava, his hands holding a small tablet, typing something on the screen.

The TV from behind them changed, no longer being white with the WCKD logo, but showing some kind of footage of a young male, probably a teenager still, running through dark grey corridors barely lit up, escaping from a hooded figure chasing him from behind.  
Suddenly the boy found himself in quite the predicament, running straight to a dead end, the chaser blocking the only way of escape.  
The teen turned around, his face visible to the ‘public’, light brown hair covering only a tiny bit of his striking electric blue eyes, which glared at the silhouette closing in on him.  
The dark figure kept approaching him, taking out a gun from its belt, pointing it directly at the boy, who did not move at all, not even an inch.  
A full body scan appeared right next to the footage, showing how the boy’s body started heating up, a deep red going from his feet to his head, the DNA strand on the top right changing drastically, showing a different structure than the usual one in a certain part. The genetic code beneath it rising upwards, going to impossible numbers for a normal human being, gasps of surprise echoing in the room.  
The male suddenly started walking towards the figure, the pupils in his eyes expanding, leaving a small string of the sky blue visible, as his hand was raised into a fist, punching the assaulter in the chest and sending it to the other end of the corridor, against the wall that broke instantly.  
The movement was so fast no one had time to watch it properly, which Janson saw, rewinding the tape back and replaying it once more, this time in slow motion, allowing the people to see the interaction better.  
A barely noticeable smile reached Ava’s lips, who could almost feel a surge of pride inside her, but it left as quickly as it came, thankfully, nobody noticed.  
In the next half hour, many tapes and videos showed the mysterious teenager demonstrating his abilities, much to the impressed and pleased looks the shady characters would surely have on their faces.  
“So he is ready then? For the Maze Trial?” A woman asked, as the last recording ended, the lights which had been turned off for the better quality of the videos shifted back on, allowing Ava to stand in front of the TV that returned to its normal state, with the logo of the company once more visible, her attention focused back on her subordinates.  
“Yes, although I have seen the preparations for the Maze Trials that he shall go through, I have come to a different conclusion.” Shocked whispers and murmurs spread in the room, but Ava cleared her throat and snapped their attention back on her once more.  
“I know we had finished this discussion last week we spoke, but I believe that it is too early for him to be on those certain trials until we have made sure he is absolutely prepared, which has made me change the location he will be sent to.” She explained, nodding to her partner as he typed on the tablet once more, turning it around and showing the screen to the room.  
“Maze A is the final destination the subject will be sent to in order to complete the Maze Trials.” Janson scanned the room, his eyes meeting briefly with Ava’s, who merely nodded.  
“Why is the chosen location Maze A?” Both Ava her right hand sighed quietly, knowing that question would’ve been asked at some point.  
“The mainly reason to it, is the connection he has with the subject of said maze, as you all are aware of.” The conversation went back and forth for another ten minutes, thankfully, they came to the same decision.  
“Very well,” Ava spoke, ready to finish the long conference already. “Ladies and gentlemen, let us begin the Maze Trials.”  
-Timeskip-  
“Are you sure it’s a good idea?” Janson asked, walking beside Ava as they made their way through the corridors and hallways of WCKD HQ, to seemingly nowhere.  
“Of course I am sure, you know he will have him, in there.” Ava explained, as both stopped yet in front of another door, opening it to a room full of people in white clothes, probably scientists, staring at screens and monitors, discussing matters at each other.  
“I know, but...He is just a child still…” He tried to argue, but knew it was for the best, even if his heart ached for it.  
“Enough, let’s just forget this for now.” She ended the conversation rather quickly, not liking the idea of her plan either, but still firm on her decision.  
For a moment, they looked at Ava, nodding as if acknowledging her presence along with Janson’s before resuming their work, focusing their attention back on the boy that had appeared on the tapes from earlier, strapped to a table, and seemingly drugged, multiple cables attached to his chest, sending information to their computers about his heart rate, IV, etc…  
He was being checked by a doctor, and a couple of nurses, all of them separated by a glass window, Ava standing right in front of it, staring at the boy almost with sadness and affection in her blue eyes, something that Janson took notice, his hand taking a hold of Ava’s gently.  
“Well, he is like his father...And you know how he was.” That brought a small smile on her face, as she brought her hand to the glass, watching the sleeping form of the boy sorrowfully.  
“Yes, he is…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I am now starting high school again, I will have less time to work on the story,but don't worry, I'll post a new chapter every weekend, so just be a little patient.
> 
> \- Ziphonix2001


	2. Chapter 1: Welcome to your new life

Blue eyes shot open, blinking twice to adjust to the dim light of the new environment he found himself in.  
Groaning as he regained full consciousness, leaning on his elbows to prop himself up, grunting as his muscles popped from not moving in a long time.  
As he was on his knees, his arm stretched to reach for something to lean on, finding some kind of...fences?

What were these doing here?

He paused in his movements, as he came into the realization that his mind was entirely blank, void from any memory of anything, even of his name.  
He scrambled to his feet, panic coursing through every fiber of his body as he desperately tried to remember anything, of who he was and what was he doing there.  
His thoughts were interrupted by a rattle of the ground, almost sending him to the floor, but he caught himself, fingers wrapping around the thin bars of the walls tightly, unbeknownst to him, the bars had slightly distorted from the strength he put them under, bending them.  
He tried to remember what he was doing to end up in such a situation, but as much as he tried, nothing would come into mind, so the only thing he had right now, was that he was in some kind of metal cage that started going upwards.

Wait a second, upwards? Was this an elevator of some sort or…?

The slow pace it was going didn’t last long, because it kept going faster, to the point where he had to hold on tightly onto anything he could reach so he didn’t fall face first to the ground.  
His ears could distinctly pick the sound of a blaring alarm, but why did it seem so far away but so close at the same time? He shrugged it off, focusing back on holding on, there was no time now to think about that.  
The cage stopped, and he looked up, seeing some kind of entrance opening, he was hoping to see some kind of light, perhaps the sun, but there was only darkness.  
What scared him a bit was the sounds of footsteps creeping closer, until the light of torches illuminated many faces, which were strangely familiar, but his confusion and slight panic were still present, he would not trust any of those people, no matter how familiar they seemed.

“What the shuck is happening here!” Whoever screamed was male and not happy, and he supposed it was because of the time, because by the looks of it, it was night. He hoped they wouldn’t take that anger out on him, he was already nervous, no need to put more pressure on him.  
“The alarm started blaring and the box came up.” The box? So that’s what this bloody thing was called, well, at least he didn’t have to worry for what it was, for now. There were other matters more concerning, like how a tall male with a torch joined the others in looking down at him.

He tried not to hyperventilate, so many things happened in such a short time that he was starting to feel caged, even if the top of the box he was in was open, he still felt in a mouse trap.  
The sound of something falling inside, brought his attention to a male, a teenager like him, with a torch in his hand illuminating his face, he had gorgeous short blonde hair, with beautiful brown eyes staring back into his blue ones.

Hold on, beautiful and gorgeous? What in the actual-

The group held many conversations at once, angrily asking why he was sent in the middle of the night and many other things, but Artemis paid no mind to them, his sole focus on the boy he had no idea who was but felt a strong connection with, which was strangely comforting for him.  
The sweet moment was broken, when the brown eyed teen decided to approach him, still staring intently at him, so he was quick to step back, cursing in his mind as he felt the bars behind him.  
The blonde shot his hands upwards, as if silently telling him he wouldn’t get hurt, but he was not going to trust anyone, not when he knew nothing of himself or what place he was in.  
So when the other came closer, he bolted, his pupils widening as his iris was merely a thin string of blue as he charged at the still male, the screams of the guys above were slow to warn their friend of the impending danger, but there was none.

He jumped just as he was a centimetre from the blonde, landing on one of the boxes that were scattered on the cage, grabbing impulse and jumping even higher, out of the box and landing on the other side, right behind the circle of boys, which were now more than what he first imagined.  
But that was not the shocking part, he was impressed at what he had just done, and by the gasps of surprise from behind him, he was sure they were too.

“Holy shuck, did you see that?” 

“What the-?”

“That’s awesome!”

He heard fast footsteps running up to him, and a voice with a familiar accent tried to stop them, like many others, but to no avail, but as the hand of someone tried to reach out to grab a hold of his grey t-shirt, he grabbed it, twisting it around and sending whoever was there to the ground, groaning in pain.  
He snapped out of the trance he was in, eyes turning back to normal as more people approached, so he did the only thing he could at the moment.

Run away.

To where? He had no idea, but he needed to get away from there, and fast.  
He thought for a moment that his plan would fail, as the light the torches provided him allowed him to see his way, fortunately, he didn’t seem to need any light, his pupils shrunk, the form of a slit similar to a cat’s, could somehow allow him to see in the pitch darkness.

He seemingfully ran into some kind of wall that looked to reach the sky, from how high it was, seeing as he couldn’t climb it, he sighed exasperatedly, but not for much longer, since the group of boys from before crept closer.  
The torches were near, so he tried to see any other way out, there was no telling what those guys would do, even if that boy from the box seemed friendly, he would not take any chances.  
He spotted a bushy area, with what he guessed were trees, and he didn’t think twice about it.

He started running yet again, but this time, someone else tries to block his way of escape, the torch he has in his hand allowing him to see the face of the male, while the other made signal as if to stop, much like the blonde did.

He seemed Asian by the looks of it, with short black hair and dark eyes, familiar as well, but he would not take the bite, lifting his gaze back on the wooden area of the place, trying to think of a plan to get away fast.  
“Hey easy there, Greenie. No need to go psycho on us, good that?” The Asian spoke, trying to ease the tension in the air, but he would not be fooled by anyone.  
When he started approaching, much like the other one did, he growled, almost animalistic actually, that had those boys stop in their tracks, staring wide eyed at him.  
And he took that to his advantage, running past the boy that tried to block his way at almost impossible speed, heading directly to some kind of safe place.

“He’s so shucking fast!”

“We got a Runner!”

He had no idea what a Runner was, but he kept on running, firmly believing that if they caught him, they would try to hurt him, and he didn’t want that, even if it looked like he could easily take care of himself.  
He didn’t stop even when he entered that forest, running and running as far away as possible, and not getting tired, which to be honest was a bit strange, but he didn’t care.  
But he did stop when he came face to face with a rather large and tall tree, with a lot of branches so high and full with leaves that it wouldn’t be easy to see him.  
He scanned his surroundings, careful in case someone was seeing him and would alert the others, but the only thing that could be heard were crickets and usual nature sounds, nothing out of the ordinary.  
He started climbing, holding onto the branches and swinging around, trying to get as far from the ground as he possibly could.  
A certain thick big branch seemed to be enough for him, sitting with his back pressed against the bark, his legs dangling on each side as he tried to calm his racing heart and thoughts.  
He tried once more to remember something, but the only thing he got, was blurry images of people he couldn’t quite see their faces, which frustrated him, hitting the tree with his hand and making splinters fall, from the force he did.

He hissed in pain, but not for long, as he brought his hand in front of him, the only thing he saw was a cut, that healed itself rather fast, a gasp escaping him as the wound returned to normal, his light tan skin intact as if nothing was there in the first place.

He touched it gently, still awed at what he saw, and he then looked at the moon, finding comfort in the silver glow.

He started feeling tired, so many emotions had swirled around him in such a short time that they now caught up to him, and even if he tried to not fall asleep, in case someone came in here, he couldn’t.  
And with a sigh, he closed his eyes, hoping for everything to be some kind of nightmare or bad dream, where he would wake up and nothing ever happened, as five seconds later, he fell asleep.  
Because of his panicked and afraid state, he did not notice a small ‘insect’ with bright red eyes spying on him, before buzzing away quietly somewhere, leaving the boy alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like it, forgive me for any grammar errors, English is not my native language. But I will try to correct them when I can.  
> Also, sorry if the chapter is short, the second one will be longer.  
>  See ya!
> 
> -Ziphonix2001
> 
>  
> 
> P.S: Artemis, the main character belongs to me, if you want to know exactly how he looks like, search for Colin Ford, he's a very good actor, I got inspired by him, especially because of his performance in 'Under the dome'. I just wanted to clarify it. Or you can imagine him differently, I just wanted you to have a reference.


	3. Chapter 2: Knowing me, knowing you

_ “Hey Artemis! Let’s go play!” A young voice with an accent asked, the silhouette of a young boy running up to him, but he couldn’t see his face, only able to distinguish short blonde hair and nothing more. _

_ He could feel himself start to run after the boy, chuckling as his ‘friend’ laughed, trying to escape from him. _

_ “Caught you, Newt!” Newt?  Why did that name seem so familiar and so comforting? _

_ “Not fair! Let’s play again, Artemis!” there it was again, Artemis. Was that his name? Is that who he was? _

_ The memory slowly faded away, and as much as he tried to grasp onto it,  it disappeared, leaving empty nothingness inside. _

 

The sound of soft footsteps reached his ears, as he blinked his eyes open, trying to adjust to the bright light of day, he ran a hand through his light brown hair, stretching his muscles as he began to be more awake.

He was in the middle of a silent yawn when the footsteps crept closer, possibly near his location, and he stopped, looked down and tried to spot whoever was coming, but it proved to be nearly impossible as the leaves blocked his vision.

Although it didn’t prove to be a useless movement, since he noticed that the short black pants he wore had a belt, with a leather sheath, a dark blue handle peeking out.

_ Wonder how I didn’t notice it before... _

He reached for it, taking it out and revealing, in fact, a small silver dagger with a name written on it. Reading ‘Artemis’, and it finally confirmed that his name was indeed Artemis.

Brought back to the point, he noticed the person had stopped, but their breathing was what gave them away, letting Artemis know he was not alone.

Hiding the dagger back on his belt, he carefully stood up, holding onto the bark for support, before jumping down, landing perfectly on another branch without making a single sound, much to his relief, and stable enough for him not to fall off.

And now, he had a better sight of what had come in there, blonde hair was visible, and he immediately knew who it was, or at least hoped it was.

“Newt...?” The name slipped from his throat before he had a chance to stop it, his throat burned a bit, from not using his voice, leaving it a bit raspy, but even then, he was heard.

Newt looked up, his brown orbs meeting his blue ones, and time stood still once again, much like it did the other night, only this time, after Artemis quickly made sure there was no one else in there with them, he jumped down.

He landed on the ground across from Newt, who watched wide eyed as he perfectly landed there, his black dirty trainers breaking a few sticks in the process. He could easily tower over Newt, he noticed.

The blonde was in a trance, and he stepped forward, which Artemis was not comfortable with yet, rapidly taking out the dagger from before and pointing it at the boy, whose breath hitched, making Artemis feel guilty.

“Easy, I’m not gonna hurt you, I swear.” The accent was fairly familiar, reminding him temporarily of the boy from his dream, connecting two and two together that Newt and the boy were the same person, but why…

He put that information in the back of his head, focusing once more on the strange teenager in front of him, still walking slowly to him.

“Why should I believe anything you say?” He desperately tried to ignore the burn in his throat, thankfully, his voice was steady, and a bit deep, but able to be heard properly.

“Well, you are the one holding the weapon, not me.” Newt joked, trying to ease the tension, and Artemis felt his lips curling upwards a tiny bit, before he sighed heavily, lowering the dagger to his belt but not sheathing it, still cautious of his surroundings.

“Fair point, but I’m still not convinced.” He was not going to yield to complete strangers, no matter how familiar they seemed.

“What’s your name?” Newt decided to change the subject, and even if Artemis was not sure about giving his name, his mouth and brain betrayed him again.

“Artemis. At least I think it is.” He still wasn’t sure if that was truly his name, but it seemed natural and fitting for him, so he didn’t complain much about it.

“Artemis…” He shivered, but not enough to be noticeable, the way the boy had said it with his accent made him giddy and happy inside, not knowing why, and little by little, he could feel his tough persona was crumbling down the more he was close to him.

“My name’s Newt, but...I think you already know that.” Artemis nodded cautiously, afraid to share information to a stranger.

“Yeah I suppose, but I can’t remember anything else.” He brought his free hand to his hair, pulling it in frustration, while being watched by Newt pitifully.

“Don’t worry, the same thing is for us.” That made him perk up, was the same ‘amnesia’ thing going on for him, was also happening to Newt and who he guessed were the others.

“Really?” He got a nod as a response, and he suddenly felt much more comfortable, still cautious, but not so tense anymore.

“We can only remember our names and nothing else. Just come with me, I’ll explain things to you.” And there went his easy-going personality, his lips turning into a frown as the option was not at all tempting.

“That I ‘trust’ you, doesn’t mean I will trust your friends. I am not going anywhere until I get answ-” His speech was cut short, by a low rumbling sound, which had him and Newt shocked.

That was, until it sounded again, and Newt stifled a snort behind his hand, making Artemis’s cheeks flush a bit in embarrassment, now knowing what it was.

He had not taken notice of it until now, when his stomach had angrily demanded for food, after who knows how many hours without eating or even drinking.

“Are you hungry?” The other asked, with a knowing smile still dancing on his lips, chuckling as Artemis ‘glared’ at him, raising an eyebrow at  him, blue eyes staring at brown ones almost playfully.

“Geez, thank you captain obvious.” He tried to keep a stern face, but snorted as he tried to hold back from laughing out loud.

“C’mon, let’s get you something to eat.” And before Artemis had a chance to protest, Newt added. “I know you are still not sure about this, but I promise we won’t hurt you, just...Please?” The plea at the end made him come to a decision, hoping not to regret it.

“Alright.” He finally answered, much to the delight of Newt. “But if I feel threatened, I am coming back in here. Understood?” The blonde nodded understandingly, but his happy aura could not be mistaken.

“One thing though, you might want to put away the dagger, they might freak out a bit if they see you carrying it around.” And as much as Artemis didn’t want to put away his only source of protection, he complied, sheathing it back and adjusting his belt.

“Better now?” He brought his free hands in front of him, showing him he had no other weapons in sight.

“Good that. Let’s go.” And with that, they started walking through the forest, heading to the exit.

They spent a couple minutes in silence, not knowing what to say but staying in comfortable silence, occasionally, one of them sneaked glances at the other, looking away when the other would suddenly turn around, leaving them with red tainted cheeks and gentle smiles, although Artemis felt a bit cocky at seeing him blush.

Once they reached the entrance of the forest, Artemis was overcome with a bit of anxiousness, seeing many boys around his age working around, stranger completely minus some of them did not make him feel any better.

He planned on bailing out of there, but a shout made them stop in their tracks.

“Hey! There’s the  _ Greenie _ !” A voice called out, making everyone’s attention shift to him and Newt, mostly on him though.

Newt kept on walking, not before sharing a glance with Artemis, silently asking if he was alright, to which he nodded with a half hearted smile that did not reach his eyes, and the other seemed to notice, but left him be, not wanting to pressure him.

A tall dark skinned man marched up to them, with dark equal eyes and really short black hair, he was accompanied by a shorter, but bulkier male, with short blonde hair, much lighter than Newt’s, and piercing green eyes, while he practically glared daggers at Artemis.

Said boy felt uncomfortable, but mostly angry at the presence of that guy, he glared back at him tightening his hands into fists, not wanting to start a fight.

“Hey  _ Alby _ .” He didn’t know for sure, but he had a feeling that Alby was that tall guy, especially as he seemed to have an authority like personality, this was someone he did not want to mess with, just in case.

_ Better keep on his good side I guess, but I still won’t take shit. _

That’s right, no matter how tough these guys might seem, he would not be tossed around like he was nothing, and that was final.

“Newt. Is this the  _ Greenie _ ?” Newt nodded, standing beside Artemis as to make sure he was comfortable.

“Nice to meet you,  _ Greenie _ . I’m  _ Alby _ , Leader of the Glade.” Leader? So he was right in the end, but what he did not understand was the words he used.  _ Glade _ ?  _ Greenie _ ?

For some reason, the word Greenie did not settle good on him, as if it was made to mock him or something, and he felt the need to tell them his name, refusing to be called such a silly name.

“My name is Artemis, not  _ Greenie _ .” 

“Well we don’t care, you are the Greenie now, so get used to it.” It was the other guy that spoke now, still glaring at him with an angry expression.

He didn’t seem to like Artemis very much, even if he just met him, but he could tell the feeling was mutual.

“Easy there  _ Gally _ , no need to start a fight here.” Gally rolled his eyes, huffing as he tried to calm down. So his name was  _ Gally  _ huh? Yeah, it did suit his asshole personality.

“Well he started it, he broke my wrist you know?” Wait what? It was then he noticed a white bandage on Gally’s wrist, and it came down on him that he was the one that tried to grab him the other night.

“In my opinion, he should be punished and sent to the  _ slammer _ .” Now that didn’t sound so good,who was he to tell him that he was supposed to be punished? He was scared and in an unfamiliar place, what did he expect him to do? Give them a hug?

“I think not.” They turned their stares on him, Gally seemed to glare at him even more, especially at his defiance, which made him smile proudly for a second.

“Careful now,  _ Greenie _ . Don’t wanna get in trouble in your first day do you?” The tension was rising easily, their voices getting a bit louder, once more grabbing the attention of everyone else, who crept a bit closer to see the commotion.

“Says you.” He was really getting pissed at this guy, who did he think he was? A king? He wouldn’t take any of his comments vaguely and let him do what he wanted.

“Alright, slim it, Newt,take him to the kitchens, I’m sure he’s hungry, I’ll join you later, Good that?” Newt nodded, gently taking a hold of Artemis short grey sleeve, tugging him away.

“Everyone, back to work, you too Gally, we’ll talk about this later.” Alby’s demanding voice had everyone walking away, subtly sneaking glances at Artemis in curiosity.

Their eyes met one last time, and if glares could kill, both of them would be on the ground.

“Sorry about that. Gally can be a bit of a  _ slinthead  _ sometimes.” Newt said as they walked, probably to the ‘kitchens’.

“A little? More like being a full blown dickhead.” His answer made Newt chuckle amused, and Artemis briefly forgot about his anger, smiling back at him fondly.

He took a little bit of liberty of looking around, green grass all over the place, with a few trees, as many boys stopped their work and watched him.

He shrugged their stares off, focusing his sight higher, noticing tall grey walls enclosing the perimeter, and he realized, they were the same ones he saw last night, and they intrigued him, especially a certain part where they were open, as if leading somewhere. Perhaps an exit? He hoped, it wasn’t there before was it?

“Here we are.” Artemis’s attention snapped back, seeing a small hut made with sticks, all kinds of food littered on tables, with kitchen utensils being used by a couple of boys, cutting vegetables and meat, while a boy, similar to Alby but not as tall cooked something on a soup pot. It was then that the wonderful scent of fresh cooked meal hit his nostrils, his stomach once more grumblingly demanding to be fed at once.

“We got a hungry wolf here, I’d watch out Newt, wouldn’t want for him to eat you, right?” The guy joked, Newt letting out a chuckle at his sarcasm, and even Artemis felt himself smiling a bit.

_ He’s quite friendly and funny, I have to admit it. _

“Don’t worry, he’s fine.” They once more met gazes, smiling, which did not go unnoticed by the boy, who smiled knowingly.

“Ohh, I see.  _ Shuck  _ Newt, I wouldn’t have taken you for  _ that  _ kind of guy.” The color on Newt’s face brightened, stuttering out excuses, much to the amusement of the other two.

“Relax Newt, I’m just joking.” Newt simply glared at him playfully, rolling his eyes.”Name’s Frypan, and you Greenie?”

“Artemis.” He didn’t feel angry at all when Frypan said it, perhaps because he did not say it with any malice, and it calmed  Artemis down greatly.

“Hope you like vegetable soup, Artemis.” Frypan poured the soup in a salad dish, which Artemis gladly took, along with a small wooden spoon, thankfully, Newt helped him carry a glass of water.

They sat on a log, and before they knew it, Artemis started digging in, wolfing down his food as if he hadn’t eaten anything for a month, and it certainly felt that way.

“Woah, calm down, wolfie. You might choke on it.” He murmured an apology, but quickly went back to chomping down the rest of the food, as Newt smiled at the scene.

He felt dizzy for a second, as his mind flashed with a blurry of images, they were so fast he let out a sigh, trying not to panic, knowing this had happened before.

_ “Don’t eat too fast Arti! You’ll get stomach ache.” A voice similar to his but younger asked, as he found himself staring at a young boy, which now oddly reminded him of Artemis. _

_ “Don’t worry Newtie, I got this.” He pulled away from the plate he was eating from, his mouth and nose dirtied by tomato sauce,which had both children laughing. _

_ “Now your turn, Newt!” _

“Newt?” Artemis’s concerned voice snapped him back to reality, shifting his attention back on the other, who watched him concerned and worried at his sudden change in his behaviour.

“You alright?” Newt’s heart swelled, as he saw the soft caring side of Artemis, feeling more comfortable with his presence at each second ticking by.

“Yeah...Yeah don’t worry. I’m fine.” He was not convinced, but he let it go, not wanting the other to be uncomfortable.

Artemis heard footsteps approaching, and he turned around, watching in the distance as Alby came closer. But he was a couple meters away from them...Why could he hear his footsteps so close?

Newt, intrigued, turned to see what made his friend pause, seeing Alby walking up to them, quite a distance between them.

“I see you finished eating, great.” Said Alby, once he reached the two, “And since you seem to like Newt, how about he gives you the tour? Good that?” Newt nodded, but Artemis was feeling a bit weirded out.

_ Tour? What the hell was this? A museum? _

“Then I’ll leave you to it, gotta prepare things for the _bonfire_. Gotta loosen’ up a bit.” _Bonfire?_ _What is that?_ There were so many things Artemis was still stranger to, and for now, no one gave answers to him, so he took it upon himself to ask, he had a right to do so, didn’t he?

“Let’s go, I’ll show you around.” He followed after the blonde, still watching his surroundings carefully, many smells and sounds all around made him a bit dizzy, but he tried to ignore it the best he could.

“What exactly is this place?” Newt snorted before answering, which left Artemis confused, what was so funny? Newt seemed to sense this, because he just shook his head.

“You are just like  _ Tommy _ , curious of everything.” The name calling of another boy so affectionately made Artemis burn with jealousy inside, and he was a bit scared. Why the heck was he jealous? He barely knew Newt, so why?

“You’ll probably meet him later. Anyway, right now, the place you are in is The  _ Glade _ . At least that’s what we call it.”  _ The Glade… That sounds familiar.  _

“As you know, Alby is the leader, while I’m his Second in Command. I take care of the Glade when he’s not around.” 

“And what about Gally? He’s not a leader right? Why would he say that before?” If there were ‘two leaders’, Gally shouldn’t have any kind of authority, right?

“Yeah, about that...He does have a bit of authority here, he’s the keeper of the builders so…”  _ Keeper of the builders? What is that?  _

“He’s a what?” Newt nodded, explaining to him that there were different jobs in here, and that each one was watched over by one boy.

“There are six Keepers for each one; There we have Frypan, Keeper of the cooks.” He pointed at the guy Artemis had talked to before, while he nodded his head, showing he was listening to what he wa saying.

“Then over there we have the Trackhoes, their keeper is Zart,” He pointed at a blonde haired boy, with blue grey eyes, with a shovel, he was with many other guys, working in what he guessed was a garden.

“I am also a Trackhoe myself, not just a co-leader.” That made Artemis perk up, the few spots of dirt were clearly from working in the gardens. “Maybe if you feel like it, you could work with me a bit later?” 

“We’ll see about that, I’m still so weirded out by all this, one minute I’m somewhere, and the next, I’m here, with no memories of anything, it’s all so confusing.” Newt smiled sadly at him, softly patting him on his shoulder, in an attempt to comfort him.

Although it only made his heart race, forcing down a blush as hard as he could, not knowing the reason why he was acting this way.

But then he heard it, the buzzing sound of an insect flying around, it was annoying, so when it came closer to him, he grabbed it.

Newt stared at him impressed, watching as Artemis caught the object in one hand, bringing it to his line of vision, raising an eyebrow as he realized, it was not a bug, but a small metal thing with ‘wings’ and a bright red dot in the middle.

What surprised him the most, was the words written on it, that both angered and calmed him down.

WCKD

“How did you do that?” He looked at Newt questioningly. “No one’s ever caught one before.” 

“What is it?” He was curious about the little thing, his blue eyes watching it buzz and click, the red dot making itself big and small, as if it was...Watching him...Perhaps a camera? Even if he couldn’t recall any camera being like this.

“It’s a  _ Beetle Blade,  _ one of the artefacts the  _ Creators  _ use to watch us with.”  _ Creators? So they were being watched by them?  _

“Who are the Creators?” Now this was interesting, and a bit creepy, who the hell were these people and why were they watching him? Or the others?

“We don’t know, we’ve never seen them, but they watch us all the time, day and night.” This was seriously getting darker, he didn’t like being watched, this was starting to freak him out.

“Are they the ones that put me in here?” He needed to know who did this to him, taking him away from a life he could now barely remember, to this place with lots of boys in the same condition. Was this work a dark sinister, and wicked mind?

“Yeah, just like me and the others, we come through the box, the same one you came in last night.”  _ So everyone was brought into the Glade through that weird cage? This is sick. _

“Anyway, let’s just continue the tour, okay? No need to think about things that don’t have any possible answer for now.” And as much as Artemis wanted to keep asking, he knew no one could offer him the answers he was seeking for. “You also might wanna let go of it, I don’t think the Creators will appreciate it much if you mess with their things.” 

Artemis looked at the object one last time, before letting it go, and to the surprise of Newt and himself, the metal was now bent a tiny bit, from the pressure Artemis inflicted upon it.

“Wow, you have a lot of strength don’t you? No wonder you broke Gally’s wrist so easily.” He felt fear and pride from it, amazed by the sheer strength he seemed to have.

“Yeah, yeah I guess so…” The Beetle Blade buzzed, staring at Artemis intensely for a few seconds, before turning to Newt, later fuzzing away to watch other boys.

“Alright, where were we?” Newt returned to their early subject,  resuming their walk through the place.

“I believe you were telling me about the jobs and keepers in here.” Artemis aided him, his demeanour going back to calm.

“Oh right, so we also have Clint, Keeper of the Med-jacks, so if you ever get hurt, you can go to him,” The Second in Command pointed to another stick made building, with a weird sand circle in front of it, which brought his attention temporarily.

“What is that for?” He had an idea of what it was, since it reminded him of a fighting ring, but his non existent memories made it difficult for him to locate where he might have seen one.

“That’s the fighting ring, as Gally calls it, it’s where he usually challenges Greenies on bonfire night.” And there it was again, Gally, the person that seemed to hate his guts more than anyone.

“Oh right, Gally...So he’ll challenge me in here tonight?” Newt nodded, chuckling at Artemis’s dismay at his words.

“Yeah, probably. Bonfire night is when we celebrate the arrival of a newbie, like you.” Well, at least he was starting to get how things worked in here.

“So, as you know, Gally is the keeper of the builders, he’s over there.” He noticed a group of boys on a wood shack, and there was Gally also, glaring in his direction when a boy pointed at him while talking to the keeper.

He decided to ignore him, focusing back on Newt, that kept telling him about the jobs.

“Don’t worry too much about him, he’s just pissed you took him down on one go.” That made Artemis feel quite accomplished with himself, now knowing that Gally did not like being lesser than anyone.

“Back to the jobs, we have Winston, keeper of the slicers.” The word slicer did not settle well in the pit of his stomach, his sudden pale face made Newt chuckle amused.

“Yeah I know, it doesn’t sound so good but they are the ones that care for the animals we have in the pens, and that later are…” The blonde did not know  how to continue, seeing as he scarred Artemis a lot more than necessary.

“I think I can expect what happens to them.” There was a tense and awkward moment, but it was broken when Newt cleared his throat, trying to get rid of the weird atmosphere.

“And last but not least, we have the  _ runners… _ ” Now that sounded promising, but when he looked around, he didn’t see anyone that was running, so where were they?

Then he suddenly remembered that strange opening in one of the walls, he glanced back at it, unknowingly being watched by Newt attentively.

“Are the runners out there?” Newt knew he couldn’t tell him yet about that certain matter, so he nodded, hoping that Artemis would drop the subject for a moment.

Unfortunately, it only made the blue eyed male even more curious about this place.

“So there is an exit to the Glade? Why are you here then?” He noticed how Newt’s behaviour changed, from the friendly and calm one, to a sad and longing one, which worried him deeply.

“Hey...You alright?” He didn’t like how the other changed so quickly, his heart aching for the boy that was trying hard to look anywhere but at him.

“Yeah...It’s just...How about I give you the rest of the tour? Then at night, we can talk to Minho and Tommy about what is out there when they return?” As much as he wanted to know what was out there, he decided to let it go, for now, not quite liking the sight of Newt so down.

They kept on walking through the Glade, Newt showing him different places, like the Homestead, the hammocks were they slept and showed him from the distance, the Map Room, that Minho, Keeper of the Runners would hopefully tell him about.

Once Artemis had ‘settled down’, he wanted to go back to his spot in the forest he now knew as the Deadheads, but his companion had other plans.

“Look, I know that you are still wary of us, and I don’t blame you, but there are certain things you should know.” Now Newt’s tone had changed, no more friendly, but authoritative, and he didn’t like it much, feeling as if he was being scolded or something.

“There are rules here, that basically everyone here follows.”  _ Great, now this is the part I’m gonna hate the most. _

“Well I won’t follow them, as you said, I still don’t trust any of you, no matter how friendly you may seem, what if you are only playing with me?” His tone was cold, and Newt visibly flinched when he spat out the word ‘trust’. Once more, guilt consumed him.

“I know, but at least try to? I don’t want you to be punished or anything like that. You seem like a great guy Artemis, so just please hear me out? Then you can decide.” He knew he should learn to say ‘No’ once in a while, but the face Newt gave him, those brown eyes staring right at his blue ones, he found that a very difficult thing to achieve.

“Shoot.” He could almost feel the happy aura surrounding the Second in Command, which made him smile, replacing the frown that had previously taken place.

“Okay, rule number one; _Everyone_ _does their part._ ” As much as he wanted to roll his eyes, he held back, nodding to let the other continue. “Rule number two; _Never harm another Glader._ ” Looking back at Gally, he remembered how he sent him to the ground, he just hoped that would not get him in trouble.

“And rule number three;  _ Never go beyond those walls.. _ ” That only made the fire inside him burn brighter, his curious nature getting the best of him.

“What if I break one of those?” That was a question Newt dreaded to answer, but he didn’t want to lie to Artemis, not happy at keeping secrets from him.

“Me and the keepers, as well as Alby will decide what punishment suits you, spending one or more nights in the  _ slammer  _ without food.” The tension threatened to escalate, and Artemis found himself being a bit pissed, not only were they trying to order him around, now they would also punish him if he broke one of the rules they made up. He was not a soldier, he would not follow anyone’s rules.

“I am not someone you can control, you know that, right? I’m not going to listen to any of you. I’ll do what I want to with my life” Artemis prepared himself to walk away, wanting nothing more than to go back to the tree and stay away from them.

But he stopped dead in his tracks, when a memory was triggered in his mind.

_ “Arti! Please don’t leave me!” Once again, a younger version of Newt screamed, trying to reach out to him as someone, wearing black clothes took him away. _

_ “Arti! Please! Help me! Don’t leave me alone!” _

“Artemis?” He snapped back to reality, as he found himself leaning against a tree for support, his gaze meeting Newt’s.

“Are you alright?” He was seriously freaked out, but he wanted nothing more than to isolate himself for a bit, and calm his racing thoughts.

“Yeah, just...I need to be alone for a bit...Okay?” Newt nodded, genuinely worried about the person he has come to trust so much in such a short time, watching him retreat back into the forest.

Unbeknownst to both of them, their hearts broke the moment they stepped away, and as much as Artemis wanted to go back, he couldn’t, he needed some time to let his thoughts calm down, and reality to sink in.

Another beetle blade was watching the scene, before retreating.

-WCKD HQ-

“How is everything going between them, Janson?” Chancellor Ava asked, stepping into a room full of screens, showing images of the Glade and its inhabitants.

“It looks like Artemis has a hard time coping with his new life, even if he trusts Newt and remembers him somewhat for the memories we are giving him, he still feels strange.” Her right hand explained, as Ava stared sadly at the recording showing Artemis walking alone through the forest.

“Maybe I pushed him too hard. Maybe it’s too soon to be reunited with him…” She started feeling regret, watching him so lonely and distraught made her heart ache.

“Do you want to stop? We can make it look like he went missing or something.” Janson tried to offer her a choice, but the woman refused, knowing there was no turning back now.

“No, there is no time for us to go back, we have to keep going.” As much as she wanted to get him back with her, she knew she had to continue.

_ I promised him he would be with them again, and I intend to keep that promise. _

“Then what do you suggest we do?” He stood beside her, both staring intensely at Artemis, next to him, a screen with the neuroimaging of his brain, which showed the different parts where it was active the most.

“Keep watch over Newt, I’ll take care of Artemis.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like it, forgive me for any grammar errors, English is not my native language. But I will try to correct them when I can.  
> I am already working on chapter 3, it will be up this weekend (Hopefully).  
> See ya!
> 
> -Ziphonix2001


	4. Chapter 3: Not a weakling

Once again, Artemis found himself on his tree, on one of the lower branches, with legs dangling off the edge.

He was twirling around his dagger, occasionally cutting himself purposefully, but quickly regenerating, light tan skin covering the blood red cut.

So much had happened in such a short amount of time, he still thought he was dreaming, that all of this was some sick dream his mind made up and that he would wake up any time soon. But unfortunately, this was not the case, this was real life, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Yet again, the annoying buzzing sound appeared, as he looked to his right, finding a beetle blade staring at him, the red eye watching him carefully. 

But Artemis was not in the mood to deal with them right now, simply glaring at it, before climbing a bit higher, to the branch he slept in the night before, hoping to escape things for a while.

He started feeling a bit tired, and decided to lay down, resting his head and back against the bark, his eyelids closing as consciousness slipped away.

_ He opened his eyes, his brows furrowed in confusion as he saw his surroundings, which consisted in a white nuclear room, no doors or windows in sight. _

_ “Where am I?” His voice made echo, bouncing off the walls as he expected an answer. But it didn’t come. _

_ What he took notice of, was that his voice had changed considerably, no longer teenager like, but more childish like, and once he took a look of himself, he noticed he was slightly shorter, but his clothes were still the same, a grey t-shirt with short black pants, but his dagger sheath was gone, no longer on his belt. _

_ “What the-?” He was starting to get a bit scared, what happened? One minute, he was in the Glade, trying to get settled in his new life and now, he was here, in a strange room that held nothing. _

_ “Artemis!” Someone called out, snapping the attention of the teen now boy to the wall on his left, walking up to it cautiously. _

_ “Artemis! Artemis!” The voice kept shouting from the other side of the wall, and before Artemis could touch it, another voice from behind made him turn around fast. _

_ “Hello Artemis.” A woman, probably on her 60s stood at the other end of the room, her blonde hair perfectly styled in a high bun, her white dress reaching below her knees, with a grey jacket keeping her warm. _

_ “I see you still like to think yourself as a child.” Her voice was gentle and sweet, relief washing over him as she came closer, her blue eyes nearly identical as his. _

_ “Who are you?” He knew her, he knew he did, her blonde hair was so familiar as well as her face, but his mind refused to cooperate. _

_ “It is not important as to who I am for now, not yet.” He was getting so tired of people evading his questions, and the woman seemed to notice. _

_ “It is alright, the answers will come to you eventually. For now, you must return to Newt.” That made him gasp, staring in disbelief at the woman. _

_ “How...How do you know-” Then realization hit him like a ton of bricks. “You are one of them...You are one of the Creators aren’t you?” _

_ A flash of guilt, remorse and sadness crossed her face,and Artemis felt mixed emotions within him. _

_ Anger, sadness, rage, betrayal… _

_ “Return to Newt for now, Artemis. And remember… _

 

**_WCKD is good_ ** _.” _

Waking up with a gasp, Artemis stared fearfully at his surroundings, still shocked at the dream he just had. Who was that woman? Was she truly one of the Creators? She did know his and Newt’s name so…

She also said something about WCKD? Wasn't it something that had to do about those annoying beetle blades?

He buried his face in his hands, trying to ease his fast beating heart, not knowing what had just happened exactly.

He sighed, watching how the sky was still blue, but the sun had gone significantly down, signifying that night time was getting closer, which reminded him of his current predicament.

**Return to Newt, Artemis.**

He knew he had no obligation to listen to that woman, but he truly wanted to see Newt again, the connection he had with him felt so natural that he wanted nothing more than to be with him, even if he didn’t trust everyone yet, he tried to make an effort. 

Hopefully, it would gave him the answers he seeked, just as the woman said, he just hoped this wasn’t some kind of trick.

He carefully descended the tree, until he reached the ground, his mind racing with thoughts about what the boys would say to him, but he shook his head, he would not be threatened by anyone.

And with that resolve, he ran through the Deadheads at an almost impossible speed, but he took no notice of it, wanting to be close to Newt already.

He was a bit overwhelmed, when he saw the group of boys resuming their work, no sight of Newt anywhere, and it unsettled him, he still didn’t trust anyone enough, so the accented boy was his only choice.

_ Shit. Where…? _

Then he remembered, the conversation he had with the Second in Command, how he aside from being co-leader, he worked as a Trackhoe, which meant…

_ The gardens...Newt is in the gardens. _

How he retained that information for so long, he didn’t know, but his mind already pictured the location of the gardens almost automatically.

He decided to walk there, feeling a bit weird everytime someone would notice him and point to him, gaining the attention of his fellow friends.

It was then he realized, no girl was there. Or at least, he hadn’t seen one, perhaps he could ask later.

As he neared the gardens, he couldn’t help but smile, seeing Newt with his familiar white hoodie and brown pants, holding a shovel in his hands, digging and throwing the dirt on a bucket.

_ Newt… _

As if he heard him, the boy looked up, meeting his gaze straight away, the same smile on his lips as he saw Artemis standing there.

Even if Artemis was still weary, his feet had mind of their own, walking straight to the other in confident steps, stopping right in front of him.

“Hey…” He felt so relieved to be back near Newt, the sheer presence of the boy calming him down greatly.

“Hey, you came back.” The Trackhoe was also happy to see Artemis back, thankful that he didn’t pull away from him completely.

“Yeah...I thought about all this and...I guess I could try to get used to this.” He felt a bit nervous now, a faint blush creeping up on his neck as he tried to explain himself. Obviously leaving the part where he met one of the supposed creators, that told him to come back, he still wasn’t sure if it was a dream or something, but he kept it to himself.

“Don’t worry, I appreciate that you didn’t fully withdraw from us.” They were so entranced with one another that they didn’t notice how the other Trackhoes stopped working, watching the conversation between the two.

“Look who decided to come back!” Artemis couldn’t but sigh, glaring over his shoulder at the approaching figure of Gally, who was accompanied by two guys, who were probably builders.

“I didn’t do it for you.” He seriously couldn’t stay one minute calm with that guy, he was just too arrogant for his own good, and Artemis wanted to  punch him in the face so hard.

“Aww, and I thought you came for me? I’m hurt now,  _ Greenie. _ ” His sarcasm made his friends laugh, even some of the Trackhoes did, minus Newt, who didn’t find it so funny.

“If you don’t want a sarcastic answer, don’t ask a stupid question, asshole.” They were gaining quite the audience, the other boys stopping their work and watching the argument.

“I wouldn’t be so carefree,  _ Greenie. _ It might get you in trouble.” Gally really liked to abuse his position of power doesn’t he? Getting along with everyone was going to be so difficult with him around.

“I’ll do what I want. You are the one that should calm down, I could easily break your other wrist.” The audience whistled at the threat, amazed that Artemis had the guts to stand up to someone like the builder, while Gally was fuming in anger.

Before it could escalate, however, someone had grabbed Artemis’s grey shirt, tugging him gently, to which he turned around, facing a concerned Newt.

“Leave it be, Artemis. No need to start a fight, you promised you’d try to get used to this.” The way the boy pleaded him, with those big brown eyes of his,his hearts doing flips as he tried to calm down.

“Oh come on Newt, you are gonna side with him now?” At the keeper’s response, the Second in Command stepped next to Artemis, arms crossed as he glared at him.

“Slim it Gally. Just go back to prepare the bonfire.” The other walked away reluctantly, fuming at Artemis one last time.

“Sorry Newt, I didn’t mean to-” Artemis wanted to apologize, it wasn’t his intention to start another fight, but he hated Gally with a passion already.

“Hey,” Newt had let go of his shirt, but now his hand was holding his arm, the touch of skin on skin made electricity bolts run all over him and probably the Second in Command as well. “It’s okay, I know you didn’t mean to, Gally is just angry, he shouldn’t take it out on you.” Just as he finished speaking, Artemis noticed how the crowd from before was dispersing, seeing as there wasn’t going to be anything exciting, they really wanted to see them fight, didn’t they?

It was then he heard footsteps running up to them, and just like it happened before with Alby, he turned, watching as a short chubby boy, who looked no older than 12 ran at them.

“Newt!Newt!” He kept screaming, panting when he stopped in front of them, out of breath, which made Artemis raise an eyebrow in question, clearly bewildered to see such a young human in the Glade.

“What have I told you about running and screaming at the same time,  _ Chuck _ , it will only make you feel even more tired and your throat will get sore.” Newt reprimanded, as the boy muttered an apology between gasps of air, and when he calmed down, he noticed Artemis standing there, with Newt’s hand still holding his arm.

“Who is he? Is he the Greenie?” But before they could answer him, he quickly ‘dismissed’ them. “You’ll tell me later! The  _ runners  _ are about to come back!” Newt’s eyes sparkled with happiness, and it made Artemis’s heart break a little, feeling like ‘second best’. He knew he had no need to feel this way, he barely knew him, but with the memories he supposed - and hoped -  were from his past, he wished this wasn’t his imagination that they were surely more than ‘friends’ in the past.

“Then come on.” And with that, Newt let go of him, and Artemis found himself aching for his touch, as creepy as it was, he couldn’t stay away from the boy.

It seemed the blonde thought the same, because he stopped half way behind the running boy, turning to smile at Artemis and gesturing him to follow him, his stomach full of butterflies as he ran to Newt at immeasurable speed, standing by his side in milliseconds, much to the bewilderment of the other.

As both of them came closer to the ‘entrance’, some boys had gathered, consisting of Frypan, Chuck, Gally and Alby.

They stepped in front of them, and Artemis for the first time had a chance to see what was hiding behind those walls, to his surprise, it was a corridor, a long, dull grey corridor with ivy hanging from the walls.

_ What is this? _

He asked to no one in particular, the question floating in hi mind the more he stared at those corridors, they seemed so...so... _ intriguing? _

**That is the maze.**

He jumped, once more hearing the voice of the woman from his dream in his mind, the one he knew was one of the creators. How the  _ fuck  _ did she know-

**Language.**

And now she was ordering him to watch his language, people seriously like ordering him around don’t they? He was starting to get exasperated.

Before he could try to demand to the woman what she meant about her previous statement, a chorus of cheers erupted around him, making him snap out of his trance, watching as two boys ran in their direction, and a wave of familiarity coursed through him, just like it happened with Newt.

One of them had short brown dark brown hair, with equal eyes, wearing a dirty blue shirt and brown pants, with a strange chest armor, which made him curious, what did he need that for?

Shrugging it off, he shifted his gaze to the other one, and he instantly recognized him from the other night, the very same one that had tried to stop him unsuccessfully.

He could see him clearly now, and no, he hadn’t changed over night, he still had those Asian features, and he wore a dirty sky blue shirt, with black pants, and another chest gear similar to the one his partner was wearing.

But aside from that, those guys were truly oddly familiar, what the heck? Why was almost everyone so ‘recognizable’ to him? He hated how everything he got were more questions instead of much needed answers, but he guessed he had to wait, just as the woman said.

Just as those two came into the Glade, the brunette one was engulfed in a hug by Newt, and once again, Artemis felt jealousy surge from inside him, while he desperately tried to refrain himself from glaring at the boy, after all, he had no right to be so angry, it’s not like he and Newt were in a relationship or anything, right?

Well, that certainly did not make him feel any better, sighing quietly in relief as the hug stopped, his demeanour calming down.

“Hey guys! Anything new?” The tone of hopefulness in Chuck’s voice was cute, but the aura coming from the boys turned sour, exchanging glances at each other before shaking their heads.

“Like always.” There went Gally once again, he seriously wished he could punch him in the face and shut him up once and for all, but he held back, reminding himself of the promise he made Newt.

“Shut it Gally,it’s not like you would make a better job.” Huh, so someone else hated Gally’s guts just as much as him, that’s great, they could bond over it maybe.

“Whatever, it wouldn’t change a thing if you found something, we’ve been here  _ three years _ and nothing strange has happened, unless you count  _ him  _ as  **odd.** ” It was then that everyone turned to Artemis once more, but he ignored them, focusing on rolling his eyes at Gally.

Also, they have been here for three years? That’s an awful lot of time,  _ holy shit _ .

“Shut up already Gally, you are seriously starting to piss me off big time.” This was getting old, what the fuck was the problem with him? Did he have some type of personal vendetta against him? Well, it was understandable, he did break his wrist, but still.

“Why you...Ugh, forget it. I’m out.” With that, Gally walked away, possibly to his post with the other builders, the tension going away almost instantly. Frypan also followed after him, maybe to try calm him down.

“It’s nice to know someone  _ loves  _ Gally just as much as I do.” The brunette said, chuckling at Artemis amused, to which he smiled with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, he’s such a  _ nice guy. _ ” Both Newt and the Asian male watched the interaction with wide eyes, surprised at the quick bond, though they seemed forced expressions.

“My name’s Thomas, and this is Minho, you must be the new one, right?” So this was the famous ‘Tommy’ Newt had mentioned, he seemed like a good guy, maybe they could become friends and bond over their mutual hate for Gally, as long as he didn’t spend too much time with Newt.

“Yeah, I am. I’m Artemis.” He saw how both ‘Runners’ tensed when he said his name, as if they recognized him from somewhere, to which he raised an eyebrow in question, but the uneasiness left as quickly as it came.

“How about we continue this conversation later? Thomas and I have to finish something, good that?” With that, Minho and Thomas left them, the Asian practically dragging the other away from them. Artemis believed it had something to do with their job.

“Alright, with that outta the way, Chuck I want you to tell the others that the bonfire is about to begin, good that?” The child nodded enthusiastically, bidding goodbye at Artemis and Newt before running away.

“Meanwhile, why don’t you Artemis follow Newt and you both make sure everything is ready?” The Second in Command agreed, about to make Artemis follow him when he noticed he was not paying attention to them anymore, his entire focus on the corridor of the ‘maze’.

_ What is that? _

He could feel the ground shaking a bit, a low rumble echoing deep within those corridors, an unpleasant feeling coursing inside him as he watched the entrance start to close, just as  _ something  _ ‘roared’ in the distance.

_ What is out there?  _

**Something you want to stay away from.**

Again, the woman warned him to keep away from that ‘place’. But it only made his curiosity higher, he wanted to know what was out there, he really did, but something told him - Aside from the woman - that he really shouldn’t, that whatever was out there would be dangerous and he wasn’t prepared yet.

So for now, he watched how the doors closed, still hearing faint roars now and then of some kind.

“Artemis?” He snapped out of his trance by Newt’s soft voice, desperately hoping his fast beating heart wasn’t noticed by the blonde, stuttering out a response.

“Y-yeah, I’m coming.” Even if Newt was not convinced, he decided to start walking, followed closely by Artemis while Alby went somewhere else.

“Are you alright?” Newt asked as they walked together, watching as the Gladers ran around preparing the last details of the bonfire.

“I’m... _ peachy. _ ” His response made the other snort adorkably, earning a laugh from him as he rejoiced in the beautiful sound. He really liked Newt, he was such a good and kind boy that it was nearly impossible not to love him.

Not like that though, it is too soon for those kinds of feelings, but either way it would’ve felt right, he was truly comfortable and calm with him, but he only believed it was a strong friendship, nothing more. Yeah, probably that…

_ I am gonna be so fucking screwed if this goes on. _

“Well then, let’s see if I can cheer you up a bit.” With that, they went to the center of the Glade, seeing everyone there ready.

-Timeskip-

The ambient was nice, the Gladers having fun left and right as they danced, drank, ate or fought in Gally’s ring.

He sat in a lonely log, away from the party, at some point, he slipped away from Newt when he met with Thomas and Minho, he wanted to give them privacy, not clinging onto the Trackhoe all the time.

He grimaced, when another boy was thrown out of the circle by Gally, hitting his head hard against the sand, before getting up and walking away defeated, an array of shouts and whistles that were surely mocking.

He felt like a stranger, like he wasn’t meant to be there but also at the same time, he wanted to. It was a difficult situation, so the only thing he did was get absorbed in his thoughts.

A silly and crazy idea crossed his mind, what if he…

_ Hello? _

His own voice echoed in his mind, and he felt like some kind of psycho talking to himself, but just as he was about to give up, he got a response.

**Hi Artemis.**

His blue eyes widened, that was  _ not  _ the voice of the woman, what the fuck?

**Language, you know she doesn’t like it when you curse.**

Her voice was younger, maybe she was of his age? But it also made him sigh, another one that corrects him about his language. And what the heck did she mean by-

**Why are you sitting alone?**

How did she-

_ How do you know- Oh wait, you are also another Creator aren’t you? _

Great, another Creator that keeps watching him like a hawk, he did not like this.

**No, I’m not one of them. But I am watching you.**

Artemis froze, hearing the familiar buzzing sound of a beetle blade amongst the cheers of the gladers, turning to stare at the red dot of those damned things staring at him from a bush.

_ Is that you? _

**Yes, but don’t worry about me for now. Just watch over Newt will you?**

After that, Artemis felt  _ disconnected _ , as if whoever he was talking to was gone, even before he had a chance to speak to her more.

He heard footsteps, just as the flying object flew away, and Newt called out to him.

“There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you.” He simply  smiled, albeit forced, but Newt didn’t seem to notice, focusing on sitting down on the log next to him, stabilizing some jars in his hands that held a weird amber liquid.

“Don’t run off Newt, I also wanted to talk to him.” They were approached by Thomas and Minho, who sat on the ground in front of them, and Artemis noticed they both sat closer than normal, but they didn’t seem to notice, even if Thomas had a small blush. Probably the light of the fire.

“How’s everything going Artemis?” Thomas’s only response he got was a shrug of shoulders, Artemis seemed distraught, like something was bothering him, but they didn’t ask, feeling like it wasn’t their place to do so.

“Here. Drink this, it’ll make you feel better.” Newt gave him one of those jars, grimacing at the smell of it and making the boys laugh. 

“Relax, its not poison. It’s Gally’s secret recipe.” At that he rolled his eyes. He knew it wasn’t poison, but Gally seemed like the type of person that would surely do anything to take him out of the way.

“I don’t like it either, don’t worry. Just drink it slowly and try to-” He was cut off when Artemis brought it to his lips and drank the whole thing down in one shot, pulling away with a shiver as the liquid burned down his throat, although it wasn’t exactly unpleasant.

He felt like laughing out loud at the bewildered expressions of his...friends? Could he call them that yet? But Minho’s didn’t last long, grinning smugly at Artemis before drinking his own jar as well.

“What the-” Thomas blinked his eyes one, twice while he stared at Minho, who smirked and winked at him, a blush creeping up his neck.

“Bloody hell.” Artemis raised an eyebrow in question, staring at Newt cockily, proud that he made the second in command so surprised.

“For the record, I’ll say we are both good at this.” Their partners snorted, shaking their heads in disbelief.

Artemis remembered the conversation he and Newt had, about asking the runners, more important Minho, about the maze and it’s secrets, but he didn’t want to disrupt the image of happiness at the moment, saving it for later.

“How about we go see Gally’s latest match?” Minho’s suggestion was met with glares of both Artemis and Thomas, but they reluctantly agreed when Newt and the keeper got up and were about to leave them alone. 

It’s not that they didn’t feel comfortable with one another, but they barely just met and they didn’t know what to talk about, aside from being haters of Gally.

When they came closer, Gally was taking on another unfortunate glader who dared to challenge him, sending him to the ground out of the circle, receiving applause from his friends.

Even with a ‘broken’ wrist that was slowly healing up, Gally still put up a fight, he admired his determination, even if he hated him.

“Has anyone taken Gally out?” He wondered if he wasn’t the first, he couldn’t be, right? Minho was probably one of the ones that took Gally down at some point.

“Well, there is one, yeah. He’s right beside you.” He turned to stare surprised at Thomas, who smiled sheepishly at him, holding his glass tighter.

“You took him down? Holy shit, didn’t know you had it in you.” Thomas merely muttered a low ‘Yeah’ in response, unbeknownst to both of them, their companions were watching them with a hint of jealousy, but it was not noticeable.

It was then that Artemis felt a current cross his body, every fiber in his body telling him he was in danger, begging him to step out of the way.

And he did, pushing Thomas away before jumping out himself, just as a fist was about to collide with his head.

The Gade stood impressed, even the attacker, who was no one other than Gally was shocked. How did he hear him coming?

“Thanks.” Thomas was still amazed, but he was glad Artemis pushed him out of the way, who knows what would have happened? A catastrophe most likely.

“So you got fast reflexes, huh? You have all the things to be a complete  _ weirdo _ , Greenie.” Alright, this had gone too far, he was not a weirdo, and he would show him.

“Fuck you Gally.” The crowd whistled at the insult, some even snickering at both boys, firmly believing they would get in a fight for real this time.

He saw how Newt was about to step forward, to try stop things from escalating, but he was held back by Minho, while Thomas didn’t know what to do.

“How about we settle this? You and me fight, whoever is pushed out of the circle, loses. Good that? Unless you are too scared  _ shank _ .” They all laughed, and even if Artemis didn’t know what ‘shank’ meant, he knew for a fact that it was not something good.

“Fine.” His voice dropped an octave, trying so hard to contain his anger as much as he could, not sure he would be able to control himself.

“Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you.” But Artemis didn’t need anyone to go easy on him, he was pretty confident that he could take Gally down, with the minimal use of strength.

The builder charged at him, but he didn’t move, waiting for him to be close and stepping out of the way, almost sending the other to the floor, but he caught himself.

Many of the guys from the crowd watched the match attentively, some were even betting on who would win, but he paid them no mind, simply focusing back on the keeper that glared at him, probably pissed he didn’t get him.

“I don’t need you to go easy on me, I can perfectly take care of myself.” Gally charged at him again, but this time, he didn’t pull away, simply holding his hand up, allowing the fist of the other to come in contact against the palm, surprisingly, Artemis didn’t even flinch or stepback.

The eyes of the crowd widened even more to the size of dinner plates,  they knew that Artemis was strong, because of how he broke Gally’s wrist easily, but this? No one they knew in their amnesiac minds had  _ that  _ much strength did they?

What happened next was practically a blur.

When the keeper was about to pull away and try to hit him again, Artemis grabbed his good wrist forcefully, yanking him towards him but stepping away at the last minute.

From the sheer strength he used, Gally was practically sent to the other side of the Glade, so to speak, but he merely went out of  the circle, dragging with him a couple of gladers that were there.

“And my name is not  _ shank  _ or  _ greenie _ , it’s  **Artemis.** ” Everything was silent for a moment, before lots of shouts erupted, congratulating Artemis for his victory.

The tension seemed to erase from his body when Newt came closer, now allowed by Minho, who gave him an approving nod, while Thomas smiled beside him.

For a second, he feared Newt was mad at him, he was absolutely serious as he approached him, feeling a bit of disappointment in himself, but it changed quickly, when Newt genuinely smiled at him, before engulfing him in a hug.

Artemis could easily say he was in heaven, he felt so much comfort and gentleness in that hug that he believed he just died and went to heaven, yes, it sounded so cliché but he didn’t care.

He could see his fears, uneasiness, worries disappear into thin air, as if they never were there, still cheesy as fuck, he knows, but he doesn't care.

Eve if he felt a bit sad when they broke apart, the words of the Second in Command made him giddy and happy inside.

“You are amazing, you know that,  **Arti** ?” It was then he noticed he called him ‘Arti’ instead of his full name, but it didn’t matter, it was a nice name still, the same one the ‘young Newt’ of his memories called him.

“Thank you,  **Newtie** .” He, Newt, Thomas and minho stayed awake a bit longer, but they went to bed eventually, especially the runners, since they had to go out to the maze at first light.

But now it came to a question, where would Artemis sleep?

He already told Newt he didn’t mind sleeping on that tree in the deadheads, but the other refused, saying it was a particularly chilly night, even if Artemis felt normal.

But Alby interjected, saying how for the moment, they were short in hammocks, and unless Artemis wanted to share it with one of the guys, he would have no place to seep in.

“And if he sleeps with me?” Newt’s question caught him off guard, staring at the other in mild surprise, to which Newt blushed, quickly stuttering a quick; “Just for tonight! Until we can get him a hammock.”

“Well, I don’t see why not, unless Artemis has some kind of problem with it?” He had no problem about it, I mean, they are both boys, right? It’s not like they will do anything.

“Good, then it's settled, but just for tonight. Newt, show him where.” With that, Alby walked away, shouting at the other partying gladers that it was time to shut down, to which some replied with sighs of resignation.

“Let’s go Arti, I’ll show you were we’ll sleep.” His hammock was slightly away from the others, hanging between two trees with leaves above to cover them.

Now that they stood in front of the ‘bed’, the situation turned awkward for some reason.

_ What the fuck’s the problem? It’s just us, two guys...sharing a hammock that will give us very little space and probably end with us on the floor. or so close to each other and… _

His thoughts even seemed to go against him, the tension rising quickly, until Newt decided to gather confidence by himself, grabbing Artemis by the wrist and sitting him down on the bed, trying to ignore the imaginary question mark on top of the other’s head.

Since many of the boys were already asleep, the Trackhoe decided to use his hands to gesture Artemis to lie down fully, much to the confusion on his face, he complied.

It was then that he realized what Newt was trying to do, but he was frozen, debating whether or not to do it, which Artemis decided to lend him a hand.

He grabbed his hand, leading him to sit on the edge, before moving as further as he could to make some room, thankfully, Newt was ‘small’ compared to him, so it made things a little bit easier.

At first it was truly weird, both trying not to make the other uncomfortable, but Artemis couldn’t take it anymore, he wanted to sleep and he would make it work.

He felt Newt jolt and tense when his arm wrapped around his waist, bringing him closer to his body, and to his surprise, instead of being cold -Since his clothes only consisted of a short grey shirt and short black pants, he figured he’d be shivering- but instead, he was warm, almost like a furnace, but not completely unpleasant, it made everything less abnormal and actually...natural, like they have been doing this before.

“Is this uncomfortable for you?” Artemis’s voice was soft,and Newt found himself relaxing, his eyelids shutting as he sighed a ‘no’ in response, unconsciously cuddling up to Artemis’s chest, while the other hugged him a tiny bit tighter, but not enough to hurt or anything.

They fell asleep like that, content and warm, unbeknownst to them, someone was watching them quietly, another beetle blade zooming away into the forest.

 

-WCKD Facility-

 

“You outdid yourself again, Ava.” Janson spoke, smiling as he saw how both boys cuddled closer to each other, in the tiny space of the hammock.

“No, I just know him so well.” The woman replied, she was so relieved to see him happy once again, he had been so lonely and distant when she sent Newt away that she feared she wouldn’t see him content anymore.

“Tomorrow I want t least three beetle blades on them, watching every interaction they have together through the day.” She spoke firmly, her gaze focused on Artemis completely.

“How are you sure they’ll be together tomorrow?” The man asked curiously, staring at Ava in wonder.

“ _ Motherly instincts _ .” She simply said before exiting the room, leaving a dumbfounded but amused Janson behind.


	5. Chapter 4: Lovely time not

_ “Can I ask you something?”  A young Artemis asked innocently as he laid down on a soft bed, wearing white clothing as pajamas, staring up at someone. _

_ “Of course, jongen*, what is it?” The man replied gently, his appearance was blurry and hardly recognizable, but black hair could be seen, as well as hazel eyes staring at the child. _

_ “What’s a boezemvriend*?” His question caught him by surprise, but he simply smiled wider, his hand ruffling the boy’s head a bit. _

_ “Well, it's like a best friend but more.” He explained in the simplest way possible, even when he knew he was smarter than anyone. _

_ “It’s the one person in the world who knows you better than anyone else.” As he explained, the boy’s mind wandered to his  _ **_friend_ ** _ , who always knew when he felt down and tried to cheer him up. _

_ “That someone who makes you a better person...well, actually, they don’t make you a better person, you do that by yourself because they inspire you.” It felt that way with his ‘partner in crime’, every time someone tried to make him angry,  _ **_he_ ** _ was there to talk him out of it. _

_ “A boezemvriend is someone you carry with you forever.” He always had  _ **_him_ ** _ in his mind, did it count? Or even feeling them close to your heart? _

_ “It’s one person who knew, accepted and believed in you before anyone else did.” He did make some friends with the new children, but no one spent too much time with him, due to many tests, but  _ **_he_ ** _ always stayed close, preferring his company most of the time. _

_ “And no matter what happens, you’ll always love them and nothing could ever change that.” With that, he turned the light off the lamp on a small table beside the bed. _

_ He stood up, walking towards the door when the voice of the boy stopped him, and he turned around, silently telling him to speak. _

_ “Do you….Do you think  _ **_Newt_ ** _ and I are? Just like my moeder* and vader* were before?” ‘Artemis’ blushed, but stared at the man expectantly, and his answer made him smile. _

_ “Yes, you are.” _

-

Artemis woke up with the feeling of something on his chest, blinking his eyes open, he noticed a head of blonde hair raising with each breath he took, and he smiled.

He tentatively brought his free right hand - Because his other one was holding the other’s waist - to Newt’s face, mainly to his cheek,caressing it gently with his thumb.

He knew he shouldn’t do this, it hadn’t been too long since he met Newt but he couldn’t help it, he just had to make sure he was there, that nothing could hurt him while he was there…

_ You mean so much to me Newt, in such a short time. _

The dream kept replaying in his head, the words that man said were put on repeat over and over again in his mind. Aside of how he spoke another language. Which was it? No idea, but he could comprehend it.

Back to the point, he brought his attention back to Newt, who was still sleeping with his head on his chest. They probably changed positions at one point during the night.

Artemis felt so calm around him, watching how the Second in Command slept so peacefully, he had a feeling he didn’t sleep too often like this.

Unconsciously, Artemis held the sleeping Trackhoe a bit tighter, not enough to hurt him or wake him up, thank god.

His eyes tried to get a glimpse of the sky, it wasn’ morning yet, but the dark sky was slowly turning blue. Dawn was near.

He decided to try and get up, stretch a bit, since he had a feeling he wouldn’t fall asleep so easily. But he also didn’t want to wake Newt up, and secretly, he wanted to stay cuddling him a bit longer, but decided against it.

It was easier said than done, because the moment he moved just a tiny bit, the Trackhoe gripped his shirt in his fist tightly, refusing to let him go, to which Artemis had to hold back an amused chuckle.

_ You make it very difficult not to love you, Newt.  _

He didn’t know if it was because he had this weird ‘telepathic ability’ or if the other was having a good dream, but Newt smiled in his sleep, snuggling up to him comfortably.

_ You sneaky loveable little shit. Alright, you win, I’ll stay. _

He then heard someone shuffling around in their hammock, seeing Minho waking up, sitting up on his hammock, putting on his shoes and leather gear.

It seems the keeper of the runners noticed his staring, because their eyes met, and Artemis silently asked what he was doing, staring at him in mild confusion.

He got his answer with the rumbling sound of the maze, his blue gaze watching as the maze doors opened, and he lifted himself up, trying to get a better glimpse at it.

He was being watched carefully by the Asian, he could feel his stare on him, but he ignored it, focusing on the open entrance.

Soft footsteps approached him, and he focused back on Minho, who stood a few feet away from him, staring at Newt still sleeping without a care in the world.

“This is the most peaceful I’ve seen him in a long time.” He spoke softly, mindful of not waking up the others, even if some of the gladers were waking up, more runners probably.

“Keep watch over him. Good that?” He nodded in response, watching as the other left, gathering a couple of boys, Thomas was with them, and he seemed to question Minho, who nodded at Artemis and Newt with his head, a smile gracing Thomas’ at whatever Minho had told him, probably about them.

Artemis focused his attention back on Newt, who was now slowly waking up, his half opened brown eyes meeting Artemis blue ones, and he blushed, trying to scurry away.

But he didn’t move very far, both because the hammock was so small and Artemis’ was firmly holding him close by the waist, not allowing him to sit up.

“Relax, Newt, you don’t want to fall off do you?” But Newt simply apologized quietly, to what Artemis smiled fondly at him, noticing the Trackhoe was still out of it, rubbing his eyes groggily.

It was then, that Newt noticed that Minho wasn’t there, which could only mean…

His gasp took Artemis by surprise, staring at him with worried and curious eyes, not knowing what happened to him in just a second.

“Did Minho wake up?” Artemis nodded, watching as Newt widened his eyes, staring at the open maze doors, not seeing anyone near the entrance.

“I always tell him to wake me up, why didn’t he-” Newt was starting to panic, and he would wake up everyone if it wasn’t for an interruption.

“Newt.” The firm tone of Artemis left him speechless, and even if he felt guilty for doing so, Artemis wanted to calm him down. “He didn’t wake you up because you were sleeping, and he told me that you didn’t sleep well, so he left you.” He saw how Newt slowly calmed down, nodding in understanding at Artemis, who was happy this didn't escalate.

Newt laid down back on his chest, much to Artemis’ surprise, which made him bashful, looking anywhere but at Artemis.

“Sorry…” He tried to get up, wanting to start the day and forget about the awkward situation. But Artemis refused to let him, tightening his hold, but still not too hard, afraid of suffocating the poor boy.

“For what?” He didn’t mind, it wasn’t uncomfortable in the slightest, and he wanted Newt to know that.

“This isn’t weird for you?” Newt didn’t want to know the answer, afraid that Artemis would push him off and leave, even if it was highly unlikely, I mean, he wa the one that dragged him closer last night, right?

“No. You?” He shook his head, hearing the soft beat of Artemis’ heart against his ear, feeling his own in rhythm with it. They spent a couple of minutes in silence, until Newt talked again.

“Alby told me yesterday that you would be trying jobs today. See if we could find something that suited you.” Artemis hummed in response, all the jobs around the Glade were good, minus the builder’s, of course. But he still didn’t trust anyone, aside from Newt, Minho, Thomas and others, mainly because he didn’t talk to them.

“Actually, do you think I could stay with you in the gardens? I still don’t know anyone enough to trust them, aside from you or Minho and Thomas, and since they’re out in the maze…” He didn’t want to sound as some kind of stalker or anything, thankfully, Newt didn’t mind, in fact, he almost sounded... _ happy _ .

“Yeah, why not?” Once again, silence fell between them, but it was nice, until someone else woke up.

Artemis noticed how Gally was watching him from one of the hammocks, glaring at him, as if he was planning on killing him with his eyes.

Artemis decided to give him a gift, in the shape of a subtle middle finger his way, to what Gally grumbled incoherently, turning his back on Artemis, who smiled triumphantly.

“We should probably get up.” And as much as neither of them wanted to, Newt propped himself up, while Artemis tried to give him space to do so.

Newt shivered from the morning breeze, he slept so warm near Artemis, it looked like he was a walking furnace or something. But now that he wasn’t…’cuddling’ him anymore, he felt cold,  _ empty _ even.

He tried to take a glimpse of Artemis, seeing him put the sheath which had his dagger on his belt, stretching his arms forwards, unaware of the stare of the boy.

_ He looks good, I have to admit it… _

Wait what? The shuck are you talking about Newt? No time for this, Artemis is one of his friends, even after the many memories he had of him as ‘younger’ begged to differ.

_ I better stop this nonsense, just breathe and focus. _

“Ready?” Newt asked, seeing as how Artemis already finished tying his shoes, and was waiting for him.

“Yep, all set.” Artemis smiled, to which Newt reciprocated with the same heartfelt smile, both walking away from the other boys, who were slowly waking up.

They saw Alby, already awake trying to wake the still sleeping Gladers that mumbled small ‘five more minutes’, but were promptly ignored.

“I’m guessing Newt told you?” The leader asked, getting a nod from Artemis.

“Alright, you gonna be in the gardens? I’ll come later to take you to other jobs.” 

“Well, I asked Newt if I could stay in the gardens with him, I’m not comfortable with the other Gladers yet.” Alby seemed to understand, nodding in agreement and allowing both boys to leave.

“Are you cold?” The blonde asked, seeing as how Artemis didn’t have any jacket or anything, only a grey t-shirt, which, to be honest wouldn’t protect him too much from the morning coldness.

“No, I feel normal, not cold or hot, just... _ normal. _ ” It was true, even if he did notice it was cold, it wasn’t enough to make him shiver.

“Well, you did feel like a furnace while we were sleeping.” At that, Artemis felt a bit bad, thinking that maybe Newt felt suffocated by him during the night.

“Sorry, it probably bothered you, didn’t it?” Newt felt confused for a moment, but smiled fondly when he realized Artemis was worried about him.

“Nah, it was fine, you kept me from being cold and waking up sick, you’re like a portable furnace.” It made Artemis raise an eyebrow amused.

“So what? Now I’m gonna be your personal furnace or something?” Newt simply made a thinking face, as if debating the option.

“Hmm, maybe~” His answer made them laugh, as they finally arrived at the gardens, Artemis stopping his laughter to see the different plants.

“Holy shit, this is well done.” Newt felt happy, knowing Artemis had liked the place he worked in, as well as others, but still…

Picking up an empty bucket, he called out to Artemis, before throwing the object in his direction, surprisingly, the blue eyed male caught it easily.

“What was that for?” Newt just shrugged his shoulders, picking up another empty bucket, motioning for Artemis to follow him.

“Where are we going?” He asked, walking bside Newt as they walked towards the deadheads.

“We’re just gonna get fertilizer, and the best spot for it is the deadheads.” Newt answered, guiding Artemis through the forest to the place they got the fertilizer from, which consisted of a small clearance, which once again, Artemis hadn’t noticed the times he had been there.

At a certain point, while Artemis was throwing dirt in his bucket, he had the feeling they were being watched, and it was true.

A beetle blade was watching him and Newt, peeking from behind a tree.

_ Seriously? Can’t they stop watching us for just a second? _

They watched him all the time, even when he didn’t notice them, he was sure they were still there, and it made him angry, there was no need to watch them 24/7, what the fuck, give him a break.

He was so concentrated in glaring at the small device, that he noticed a little too late that there was something coming his way.

He jumped at the last second, watching in surprise at the handful of fertilizer landing in front of him.

A snort came from beside him, turning to the source of the sound, he found Newt desperately trying to muffle his laughter with the back of his hand, but still, some giggles escaped him.

_ So this is how it’s going to be isn’t it? Alright then. _

Artemis smiled deviously, his hand gathering a bit of dirt discreetly behind him, while Newt watched him curiously.

He stood up to Newt nonchalantly, still smiling mischievously, to what the Trackhoe couldn’t help but worry a bit. Maybe he had gone too far and Artemis was mad? Hiding his anger behind a smile?

“Arti, I am so sorry I didn’t mean to-” His speech was cut short when Artemis threw the dirt he was hiding to Newt, who yelped in surprise, staring at a laughing Artemis like a deer caught in the headlights.

“Y-your face! It’s priceless!” Newt’s stomach felt weird, as if he had multiple bugs in it the more he heard Artemis laugh.

“Oh that means war!” And just like that, a small ‘dirt’ fight was created, Artemis and Newt were throwing dirt at the other, smiling and laughing as they tried to duck the incoming attacks.

Until Newt tried to jump at him, sneaking behind him fast, but he wasn’t as fast as Artemis, who wrapped an arm around his waist, tickling his sides as they kept laughing.

“I won’t stop until you yield!” But Newt refused to give up, tears brimming his eyes as he kept on laughing, trying feebly to escape Artemis’ grip on him.

“N-never!” Newt yelped, fighting to get loose, but to no avail, Artemis was much more stronger , and he was holding his with only one arm!

“Come on Newtie! Surrender!” The second in command couldn’t take it anymore, his laughter dying down as he tried to talk.

“A-alright! Alright! I surrender! P-please!” Artemis decided to stop his tickling torture, but he held Newt up with his arm, since it looked like he would have fallen with the way his legs were shaking.

When the laughter died down, they both realized the position they were in, a fire bright blush spreading on their cheeks as they stared at the other.

Newt looked away, trying and failing miserably to get out of Artemis’ grip, but the light brown haired teen didn’t let him, holding Newt’s waist firmly, while he brought his other hand to his cheek, making him look back at Artemis.

But just as they leaned in a tiny bit, a shout brought them back to reality, pulling away from each other as Chuck came into view, shouting their names.

“W-we’re fine Chuck! We’ll b-be back in a s-sec!” As the kid left, both males were still blushing, looking anywhere but at their friend.

_ Okay, this was...interesting… _

“I-I think w-we should get back, t-they might be worried about u-us.” Artemis could only nod in response, still not believing what the fuck just happened.

Both grabbed their full buckets, walking back in the direction of the gardens, not speaking at all.

_ Great, I ruined things...What the fuck was I thinking? Ugh...Good job Artemis, way to make things weird...Newt is gonna hate me now…Stupid, stupid, stupid... _

“Newt?” Artemis asked, watching as Newt kept  on walking, not answering him at all, he was mad alright. But still. “I’m sorry for before, I-I don’t know what came over me I j-just…” A hand met his own subtly, and he looked down, seeing Newt’s hand grabbing it and lacing their fingers together while Artemis gave it a light squeeze.

Both had smiles on their faces, and somehow, Artemis had the feeling that Newt was not mad at him, in fact, he almost seemed...content but bashful.

No one questioned what they had been doing in the deadheads for such a long time, and they were thankful for that, not sure they could tell them.

Throughout the day they spent in the gardens, both were working quite closely, sharing glances that ended up with one of them looking away - mostly Newt - and blushing, but still no one questioned.

Unless you count Frypan, who came to the gardens to collect some tomatoes for dinner, raising an eyebrow at the interactions between the second in command and the greenie, but he didn’t say anything, keeping to himself in case he was wrong.

Once they stopped to have a break, they sat together on a log, chatting peacefully with soft smiles, under the watchful eyes of Alby, but just like the cook, he didn’t say anything. After all, this was the happiest they’ve seen the accented boy in a long time, or at least, until Thomas was made a runner and was gone through the day, leaving Newt a bit lonely, even when he had the other Gladers or even Alby.

But now, it seemed he was getting better, laughing at some of the silly things Artemis did to make him laugh, but they still worked, and Artemis was actually really good at his job.

Artemis forgot the weirdness from before, even Newt, and he even forgot about the annoying beetle blades, focusing his whole attention on the blonde haired beauty in front of him.

The day flew by fast, and Alby came to speak with Zart to see how Artemis did on his job, to what the keeper replied with a ‘he’s a natural’, making Artemis happy, he thought he was doing a miserable job, but it turns out he was doing alright!

Artemis was happy that he was a Trackhoe, don’t get him wrong, but the maze…

Looking subtly at the entrance, he was so intrigued to the mysteries that strange place held, he wanted to explore, to see things, but he could still hear the voice of the woman, warning him not to do it.

Evening came a little too fast, and now both Artemis and Newt were waiting for Minho and Thomas, the last runners, to come back.

Artemis was reminded of the conversation he held with Minho that morning, of how he wanted to talk to him, he just hoped it wasn’t something bad.

Once they came back, Newt hugged Thomas, to what Artemis and Minho couldn’t help but feel a tad bit jealous, but this time, he didn’t mind, he had that small moment with Newt in the deadheads, it should suffice...wait what?

“Anything new?” Newt asked, even when he knew nothing would have changed.

“No, not yet. What about you? Something interesting in the Glade?” It was an innocent question, alright, but both Artemis and Newt couldn’t help but share a glance, looking away from each other, much to the confusion on the runners faces.

“W-well...you know...the usual. R-right Arti?” The second in command tried to hold back his blush as much as he could, hoping that Artemis would aid him in this ‘little lie’.

“Yeah, the usual…” Artemis answered, his mind recalling what had happened earlier that day.

Thomas looked at Minho in question, to what the keeper answered with a shrug from his shoulders, but a somewhat knowing smile crossed his lips, feeling the tension between the two males.

“If you say so...C’mon Tom, let’s leave these ‘love birds’ alone.” And with that, Minho sprinted off before Newt could start yelling at him to ‘shut up’, followed closely by a bewildered Thomas, who was still confused over what had just happened.

“Bloody hell…”Newt muttered, sighing in exasperation at what just happened. “Shucking Minho, saying nonsense…”

But Artemis didn’t respond, he was staring at the maze doors that were about to close any time soon, his mind triggering some more memories.

-

_ “Arti? Can you promise me something?”  A rather grown Newt asked, staring up at an also older looking Artemis, both of them cuddling in a soft mattress, a thin blanket over them. _

_ “Of course, what is it?” ‘Artemis’ asked,softly tracing patterns with his fingers on ‘Newt’s’ back,  softly lulling him to sleep. _

_ “If..If I am ever in danger...Would you come for me?” His question surprised him, stopping his ‘massage’, looking down on Newt surprised. _

_ “S-sorry..I shouldn’t have said that.” Newt tried to turn his back on Artemis, to forget the awkward conversation they just had, but the blue eyed male did not allow him to do so, firmly gripping his waist with his arm. _

_ “Hey...I would never let something happen to you, Newt. Alright?” Artemis reassured him, smiling when he saw Newt smile back, a faint blush dusting his cheeks. _

_ “Thank you Arti.” The blonde cuddled closer to Artemis, his head resting on his chest as both of them started to drift off. _

  
  


_ “...Arti?” _

_ “...Hmm?” _

_ “I love you.” _

_ “Love you too.” _

_ - _

“Artemis? Hey! Are you with me or not?” A pair of fingers snapped in front of him, breaking him out of his trance as he looked back at Newt. “Are you okay? You spaced out on me.”

“Oh! Yeah, I’m perfect.” He lied, focusing on the now closing doors of the maze, recalling what he had just witnessed in that memory.

It was definitely him and Newt, and both of them were...were…

_ Oh my fucking god… _

This was not good, This was terrible, horrible even. Oh god, this is...What the…

“Artemis? Hey, are you sure you’re okay’?” Newt was getting genuinely concerned now, what was wrong with him?

“I...I’m sorry, I g-gotta go.” With that, he sprinted off towards the deadheads, before Newt had a chance to stop him.

“Artemis wait!” He tried to run after him, but with only one good leg and Artemis being so fast, it was impossible, so he was left alone, hopelessly watching as Artemis disappeared from view.

_ Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me! _

Was the only thing in his head, as he ran through the forest, dodging trees that stood in his way, stopping once he found the walls of the maze.

He brought his hand up, tightening it in a fist and slamming it against the tall strong walls, hitting them repeatedly while trying to hold back tears, not of sadness, but of anger.

_ Why did it have to show me that?! Why?! Why fucking now goddammit?! _

At some point, he felt ‘bored’ of hitting the same wall all the time, retreating his bruised and bleeding hand that was slowly healing up, as he slumped down on the ground, his back pressed against the cold surface.

_ Why did you have to show me that? Fucking why…? _

He already had promised himself that he would try not to develop feelings for the blonde, and o far, he had been doing good..Well, for the most part, but still, he was doing good. But now? How would he even show his face to Newt now?

_ Fuck everything! _

**That is not nice, Artemis.**

Oh great, another problem.

_ This is not a good time, you know. _

**I am sorry for having to show you that, but I needed you to know tha-**

_ Just shut up will you?! Leave me the fuck alone! I am tired of this!  _

**Artemis...Please I-**

_ Shut up! Please...leave me be… _

The woman seemed to leave, since he couldn’t feel her ‘presence’ in his mind anymore, and he actually sighed in relief, before tears started to roll down his cheeks, but he didn’t wipe them. He didn’t have the strength to do so.

“Fuck!” His shout echoed all through the deadheads, as he then started sobbing violently, hiding his face from view as his whole body trembled.

-WCKD Facility-

Ava stared helplessly at the teenager being recorded by a beetle blade, her heart aching the more she saw how distraught he was, her own eyes brimming with tears.

A door opened beside her, but she didn’t need to look to know who it was.

“Ava?” Janson called out, worriedly staring at the woman, catching a glimpse of the image of the screens, realizing what had happened.

“I shouldn’t have done that...I..I just…” The more she tried to explain, the more harder it became for her to hold back her tears, and Janson noticed, walking up to her.

“I am a horrible person…” She finally answered, her own sobs joining Artemis’ faintly, as she stared up at Janson, who merely engulfed her in a hug, letting the woman cry on his chest.

“Oh Ava...shh...He’ll be alright, don’t worry…” His heart shattered, seeing the most important people so broken had him shaken to the core.

_ If only  _ **_he_ ** _ was here, none of this would have happened... _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Czech language:  
> \- jongen -> son  
> \- boezemvriend -> soulmate  
> \- moeder -> mother  
> \- voeder -> father


	6. Chapter 5: Beautiful mess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning? Don't know, just fluff, angst, humor and romance all in one. Sorry (Not sorry) for this. XD

It has been 4 days since that memory was triggered in his mind, and Artemis’ demeanour had changed drastically.

First, he completely ignored everyone; Thomas, Minho, Frypan, Alby, Newt...And even Gally! And that’s saying a lot, because even if he made him angry, he didn’t say anything.

Everytime someone tried to talk to him he would space out, until they gave up and left. 

But if Newt came by? He would get up and walk away, not even sparing him a second glance.

It hurt him, a lot, but the more he thought about that flashback, the more he believed it was better this way. So he wouldn’t feel that much hurt in his heart if those feelings came back.

But he wasn’t the only pained by his actions, the second in command had gone from happy, caring Newt, to strict, serious and practically devastated Newt.

When someone tried to ask what happened between them, Newt would mutter an ‘I don't know’ before running away to cry alone.

His friends were getting worried, and a tad bit angry. What happened to them? Last time they saw them, both were having so much fun they could’ve been friends since forever. But now they were shadow of themselves.

And it had been enough for Alby to get tired of it, so he secretly gathered a meeting in the homestead, discussing with Minho, Thomas, Frypan, Winston, Zart, Chuck and others - minus Gally for obvious reasons - to set up a small plan to find out what had happened between those two and try to make them be friends again.

 

And the plan began today.

 

It started like many others, Artemis woke up from his hammock early in the morning - yes. he finally had one - and went to the gardens to start early his job, but he was stopped by Alby.

“I need you to come with me. Now.” And as much as the male didn’t want to, he knew better than to stand up to Alby, mainly because he was too tired

emotionally to start an argument over the sleepless nights trying to forget that memory, even if he didn’t feel tired.

So, here he was, in the homestead, alone, waiting for Alby to come back. He had no idea why the leader left him, and he worried that this was going to be some kind of trick, and he was right.

While he was waiting patiently for Alby, the Glade leader had gone back to the gardens, this time, he came looking for his second in command, who was working along with Zart cutting down a tree.

“Newt, come with me.” But Newt wasn’t so willing, protesting that he needed to help Zart with this.

“Don’t worry, Newt, I got this. Go.” The keeper said, helping Alby out with his plan.

And even if Newt wanted to stay, Alby threatened to carry him all the way to wherever he wanted to go, and he knew that he always kept his promises, so with much resignation,  he followed after he leader silently.

Newt felt confused when Alby guided him to the homestead, but when he tried to ask, the older male kept avoiding his question.

 

Just as they opened the door, time stopped and everything went in slow motion.

 

Artemis, who had lost himself in his thoughts, was rudely sent back to reality when the door opened, his blue eyes going wide when they met equally surprised brown ones staring back at him.

Before Newt had a chance to back away, Alby had pushed him in all the way inside the hut, almost sending him to the floor and shutting the door.

“Alby! What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing!” Newt tried to open the door, but it was blocked from the outside by Frypan and Winston.

“No, Newt. This has to stop. Whatever had happened between you two is gonna end now.” And just like that, the footsteps of the three Gladers faded away, leaving both males alone together.

Artemis sighed in exasperation at what happened, he should’ve known something like this would happen, and he wasn’t fast enough to stop it, too caught up in his surprise at seeing the blonde.

Speaking of him, he glanced discreetly at the Trackhoe, trying to open the door to no avail. He would've tried himself, but the mere thought of being near the boy had his mind triggering that memory all over again.

Newt groaned, after many failed attempts on trying to open the door, he started getting tired, stepping away from it and sitting down, as far away from possible from Artemis.

The tension was so thick, that anyone could have cut it with a knife in half. They didn’t know what to say or do, so they spent at least 5 minutes in absolute silence. Artemis could hear the Gladers going about their lives and everything in the distance, while Newt was nearing the end of his patience.

“What did I do to you…” Newt’s voice was so quiet that someone with low hearing could have missed it, but Artemis heard him loud and clear, as if he was standing next to him.

The taller male was speechless, he had no idea what to tell him, he knew he had been wrong in treating Newt so...disrespectfully, but what else could he do? 

_ I want to tell you Newt...but I can’t lose you...I just can’t… _

He hoped the other would drop that subject, but that was too much wishful thinking.

“So you are going to keep ignoring me?” The way his voice trembled made Artemis want to stab himself with his dagger, it sounded so broken, and he wanted nothing more than to run up to the blonde and comfort him, much like he was doing in that small flashback a couple of days ago.

“What did I do? Was it something I said? If it is I am so sorry!” If Newt hadn’t been crying before, he certainly was now, and it took too much self control for Artemis not to cry out in frustration.

“Arti please…” He was trying so hard not to let emotions get the best of him that he didn’t notice Newt had marched up to him, tears of anger and sadness flowing down his cheeks as  he tried to make Artemis talk.

It began to become too much, his breathing was so fast he felt anxiety creeping up inside him. Oh sit, not now.

It was then that Artemis saw what was going on, and he panicked.

 

_ Oh fuck, don’t tell me he’s… _

 

Newt felt his knees weaken, but before he could hit the floor, Artemis caught him, holding his head to his chest while he sat down, debating on what to do.

“Newt, Newt come on...Don’t do this to me..Please..Focus on me c’mon...” He had no idea what to do, he was running out of ideas and if this kept going, Newt would pass out. He had to distract him.

There was nothing he could use to make the Trackhoe feel better, unless…

 

_ Newt...forgive me… _

 

Were his last thoughts before he pressed his lips against the blonde’s.

It was as if time had stopped, his eyes were shut tight, refusing to look at the other, fearing his reaction, hoping for a slap across the face...That  _ never  _ came.

Instead, he felt Newt kissing back…

He was  _ kissing back… _

His mind went blank, a hand was touching his cheek bringing him closer than possible. But they had to breathe, so when the necessity for oxygen came, they parted slowly, breathless.

Both their eyes had been closed the entire time, but as they opened them, both were frozen, the realization of what they had done dawning on them.

Newt’s panic attack had been long forgotten, as if it had never happened in the first place.

-

_ “Artemis, don’t leave me.” _

_ “I won’t, Newt. Ever.”” _

-

Those voices echoed inside both of their minds, as Artemis held Newt in his arms still, both unmoving.

Newt brought his hand to the back of Artemis’ neck, pulling him closer and kissing him, while the older male hugged him just a tiny bit tighter, reciprocating the action.

It wasn’t until an hour later that little Chuck came to see how things were going, he was too curious to see what happened between two of his friends while they were in there.

What he wasn’t prepared for was finding Artemis asleep, his back pressed against the wall while holding an equally asleep Newt sitting on his lap, his head against the crook of his neck.

The little boy had to hold back a tiny squeal as he practically ran off to search for the others, unbeknownst to him, his footsteps and the little ruckus he made to unlock the door had made Artemis wake up from his slumber.

But even then he didn’t say anything to the child, his attention solely focused on the sleeping second in command.

He had no idea what had happened exactly; One minute they were arguing, then Newt was having a panic attack that ended up with them kissing, rather passionately actually.

After that heated moment, they had somehow ended up asleep, the shouting - mostly from Newt though - had tired them out.

He carefully got up, holding Newt up in his arms as he walked out of the homestead, finding Alby, Zart, Frypan, Winston and Chuck staring at him in surprise, they probably thought he was still sleeping.

Artemis paid them no mind whatsoever, his feet walking in the direction of the hammocks, thinking that Newt could use some rest, and maybe him as well.

He thought that Alby was going to stop them, but he didn’t, a grin on his lips as he told his ‘partners in crime’ to go back to work, knowing the problem has been solved.

The blue eyed teen thought about leaving Newt on his own hammock, but when he saw how the blonde was holding onto him tightly, he felt it was hard to leave him on his own, so he laid down next to him. 

It was a bit complicated, but nothing Artemis couldn’t handle. He was chest to chest cuddling Newt, his right arm on his waist, holding him close, while his left arm served as a pillow for Newt’s head.

He stayed awake for a couple of minutes, still processing what had happened.

 

_ We are one big fucking mess aren’t we?  _

 

He thought, smiling at the Trackhoe with newfound adoration, he wouldn’t call it love yet, but it felt as if something that had been gone for too much time had finally come back, and he just prayed, that Newt felt the same.

Newt cuddled closer to Artemis, if that was even possible, muttering things in his sleep, occasionally saying Artemis’ name and smiling softly, warming up Artemis’ heart deeply.

They woke up after a while, when Artemis smelled food, making his stomach growl lowly, demanding food, and he decided they had been resting long enough.

“Newt..hey, wake up…” Artemis shook the sleeping Glader awake, watching as his eyelids fluttered open, revealing his brown orbs staring at Artemis’ lue ones.

“Welcome back sleeping beauty…” He chuckled, as the Trackhoe grumbled incoherently, blinking to get rid of the sleep still in his eyes.

“Hi…” Newt muttered, smiling up at Artemis with a faint blush.

They didn’t talk about what happened in the homestead that morning, both were still unsure of what their…’status’ was now. 

_ We aren’t friends anymore are we? I mean, friends don’t go kissing each other like that...But then again, it’s not like they were...um….a couple? Ugh,...This is so confusing right now... _

“Arti?” Newt’s voice brought him back to reality, as he turned to stare at him with a questioning glance. “Umm..About before…” He trailed off, Newt didn’t even know how to continue, afraid that whatever had happened in the homestead was just the heat of the moment, he hoped not, he felt so much for Artemis ever since he came to the Glade, call it cheesy or whatever, but there was certainly something there, and he just begged that Artemis felt it too.

“Right, about that...Did..Did I make you uncomfortable or anything?” He needed to make sure, sighing in relief as Newt shook his head. “Thank god…”

“What....What are we  now? I-I mean..It’s..” This was harder than he thought, but he wanted to tell Artemis what his thoughts were in. “I won’t deny that..I feel like...something, I don’t know what it is but...That memory that I-I had..You had it too r-right?” Oh brother, this was going to be awkward.

“Y-yeah..I had it too.” Even if Artemis felt nervous, he decided to make his point across, this couldn’t happen like this. “And about the rest...How about we see for ourselves?” Newt made a look of confusion for a moment, before he understood what he meant.

“Well, we both were obviously together or something before the maze...And whatever we had seems to be still present so...M-maybe we could keep going like this...But slower? I-I don’t know I..” Okay, we go back to rambling. Great.

_ C’mon Artemis, this can’t be this difficult, just say that you want to be with him but go slower because you’re still not sure how to feel, even if you obviously ‘still’ care for him or...Oh my fucking god, this is seriously the second most weird conversation today.. _

“Arti, breathe. It’s fine, we’ll see for ourselves, just like you said...Right?” No wonder he and Newt were in a relationship, they understood each other perfectly. “Now come on, let’s get something to eat.” With that, they walked away from the hammocks, much more calmer now that their situation was resolved. 

They noticed the Gladers eating and chatting among themselves in the open field, and little Chuck was the first one to notice them.

“Newt! Artemis!” That kid had a really loud voice didn’t he? It brought the whole Glade’s attention on them in just a second. 

Chuck waved at them o come closer, he was sitting with Minho, Thomas and Frypan on a log a bit further from the rest.

They both ignored the stares coming from the other boys, focusing on sitting down with their friends, who held out two plates for them, courtesy of Frypan.

“I knew sooner or later you’d want to eat, so I saved you ome.” Newt muttered a small ‘thank you’, while Artemis nodded in acknowledgment.

“I hope you’re well rested Newt, you slept like a rock you didn’t even wake up when Artemis carried you.” Artemis choked on his food, clearing his throat as he glared at the smiling innocent Chuck.

“You carried me?” Newt was surprised, he knew that Artemis was strong, and he proved that many times, but carrying a human being like it was nothing? What the  _ shuck _ ?

“Yeah, I didn’t want to wake you up so…” He admitted, earning a heartfelt smile from the blonde, which he wholeheartedly returned, under the knowing watchful eyes of their friends.

“Glad that you two made up, I was starting to get sick of the sexual tension, like seriously.” Leave it to Minho to make things incredibly weird all the time, leaving Artemis and Newt looking away, trying to force down their food while they blushed profusely.

“Minho..One of these days I’m going to fucking murder you.” Artemis snarled, to what Newt couldn’t help but agree with his ‘partner’.

“And I’ll make sure none of these shanks find your body, you  _ slinthead _ .”

  
  
  
  


 

 

“So….You’ll kill me before or after you fucked?”

“Minho!”

 

-WCKD Facility-

Ava was revising the latest test results of a project when she felt the back of her mind aching. She had seen what happened in the maze those days, especially what had happened earlier that day, and she was proud of him.

She was surprised to hear a very familiar voice that brought the faintest but truest of smiles to her lips.

_ I might owe you one. _

It was simple, and she knew he still didn’t trust her much, but it was enough for her to feel like herself again.

 

**It was no problem, Artemis.**

 


	7. Chapter 6: Protector

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another bittersweet chapter, with a bit of romance at the beginning, descending down to angst, nothing serious...I hope.  
> Again, sorry not sorry. XD (Forgive me if this chapter is short but I promise the next one will definetly be longer and much more intense.) 
> 
> \- Ziphonix2001
> 
> P.S: I have changed a small sentence, in case someone misunderstood, since English isn't my native language, I sincerely apologize for any mistakes.

Things have been relatively normal after Artemis and Newt ‘made up’ a solid week ago, the tension was not there anymore, and many of the Gladers were glad it was over.

They were both sleeping in the second in command hammock, since they both prefered to sleep together, for no reason, they just wanted to be close to the other.

They began to joke and play around in the gardens again, much to the amusement of those who saw them, although they had no idea that this ‘close friendship’ was much more deeper than it let on.

The ones that were not fooled were Alby and Minho, and perhaps even Gally -But it was probably to find something to piss Artemis off-, but they kept it to themselves, wanting to see if it was really true.

But for now, both trackhoes have been good at keeping it a ‘secret’, only being really affectionate only when they knew they were alone.

Artemis had also come closer to the keeper of the runners and Thomas, along with Winston, Chuck and Frypan. An unconventional friendship, but nonetheless good.

Today it was going to be the same, get up, have breakfast, work in the gardens until the evening and then have dinner and go to sleep. Simple.

They laid together on their hammock, face to face as they started to wake up.

“Morning sleepy head.”

“Morning _shuck face…_ ”

“ _Shuck face_ , really?” He smirked at him, seeing the trackhoe blush a bit trying to bite back a smile.

“Yep.” So that’s how it is, huh? Alright, he’ll play along.

Newt had no time to react before Artemis turned him around and pinned him against the ‘bed’, holding his wrists down, preventing him from getting up.

“Take that back.”

“Nope.”

“Do it.”

“No.”

They kept going back and forth, trying to keep their voices low as not to wake up the other Gladers that could possibly see hem in such a.. _compromising_ situation. After all, they weren’t ready to come out, even if they felt comfortable already.

“Fine, I’ll make you.”

“Like hell you-”

He was cut off by Artemis’s lips against his own, silencing him, as he let go of the blonde’s wrists, letting them wrap around his neck, as Newt softly pulled at his hair, pulling him closer, only pulling away when they needed to breathe.

“Still going to call me _shuck face_?” He smiled at the flushed face of the boy pinned underneath him, who tried not to stutter as he answered.

“Y-yes…” Well, mission failed. But still, Artemis didn’t give up, deciding to kick it up a notch. He just hoped Newt would not be angry or weirded out.

He lowered back down to kiss him again, only this time, he gently let his tongue wet the other’s lips. Newt let out a tiny unnoticeable yelp, opening his mouth in shock, which Artemis used to his advantage, letting his tongue meeting Newt’s slowly.

The grip on his hair tightened, but he did not mind it at all, he was too focused on kissing the second in command to care about anything else.

A small sound made Artemis stop, thinking that maybe Newt didn't feel comfortable with this, but he was surprised to see him blushing a deep red, his half lidded eyes staring up at Artemis a bit dazed.

_Fuck. He looks so fucking beautiful right now…..How can someone look so freaking cute this way? God...This is not shucking fair..._

“Arti…?” _Fuck everything._ That’s it, all sense of sanity left his mind, kissing Newt once more, he didn’t care if anyone saw them or if they said anything, all that mattered was Newt.

Unfortunately, the moment Alby’s voice shouted at the sleeping Gladers to wake up, they parted fast, albeit unwillingly, trying to act as if they hadn’t been making out two seconds ago.

“You two alright there?” The leader asked, confused at the red faced boys sitting on their hammock.

“Perfectly fine!”

“Y-yeah!”

Alby kept staring at them skeptically, but eventually walked away, mumbling something along the lines of ‘ _shucking teenager hormones_ ’, making Artemis and Newt laugh.

But then he felt it, the feeling of impending danger.

_What the- The shuck is.._

“You alright Arti?” Newt asked, he had seen Artemis turn serious all of a sudden, and he was concerned.

“Hmm? Oh yeah, don’t worry, my mind’s just a little bit over the place. I’m fine.” He could tell the trackhoe was not convinced, so he grabbed his hand, offering him a smile.

“Relax, it’s nothing serious. Okay?” Artemis hated to lie to Newt, but he assured himself he was fine, it was probably nothing. “One thing.”

“Hmm?”

“Did you like that?” Newt’s blush made him giddy, and a tad bit proud he made the second leader of the Glade so bashful.

“So you did, huh?”

“J-just shut up, you b-bloody i-idiot…” He punched Artemis lightly on the arm, throwing the pillow they use to sleep with to his face, although Artemis caught it rather easily, before he chuckled amused, following Newt to the ‘kitchens’ to have breakfast.

It was nearly midday when Artemis felt the feeling of danger creeping up on him again, when Newt told him he would get more fertilizer in the deadheads.

He offered to come with him, but the blonde assured him it would be fine, much to the worry of his companion.

“It’s just fertilizer, I’ll be back before you know it.” And with that, he disappeared into the forest, leaving a very worried Artemis behind.

It had been almost 20 minutes since Newt left, it doesn’t take that long to get some fertilizer is it? Besides, they only needed a small amount, so why-

**Artemis** ! **He’s in danger**!

The girl! There she was again. It had been a while since he spoke to her, the only one he spoke to was the...Wait..the fuck did she me-

He could hear the distinct sound of someone...screaming? But that voice was…

_Oh fuck._

“Artemis? You okay there?” Zart was surprised to see Artemis’ blue eyes zeroed on the forest, the same way Newt had gone to.

“Something’s not right…” By now, he had gained the attention of all the trackhoes, who were thoroughly confused at the change in behaviour of their friend.

“What do yo-” Then they heard it, a scream coming from the deadheads, Newt emerging from it as fast as he could go with a weird acting Ben behind him.

He seemed off, as if he wasn’t in control of himself.

But it was enough for Artemis to feel angry.

_Don’t you_ **_fucking dare_ ** _!_

These were his last thoughts before he saw red, by now, Ben had pinned Newt to the ground, and was attempting to stab him with a knife, the Gladers were too slow to help him, but not Artemis.

He took out his dagger fast, aiming it to the crazed runner and hitting him square on the shoulder, making him stop, rolling off of Newt in pain, trying to take the weapon out.

But when he tried to get the trackhoe once more, Artemis kicked him to the ground, his feet pressing against the other’s chest, forcing him down, unable to get up.

He took the dagger out, covered in blood, and pressed it against his neck, not hard enough to cut him.

He could hear the Gladers helping Newt out, but when some of them, including Alby tried to get Ben, Artemis growled at them, his pupils widening as he kept them all at bay.

“Arti’” He knew that was Newt’s voice, but it was distorted, everything was, he didn’t know who was who, he only saw dark shadows creeping at him, and he didn’t like it.

**Artemis** ! **Stop** ! **Listen to him**!

He didn’t, he was too focused on the creepy people around him he didn’t hear anything else.

Newt came closer, ignoring Alby’s orders to stay back, no one knew what happened to Artemis, he was fine one minute, then he threw that dagger perfectly at Ben’s shoulder, and now he was acting absolutely mad, like Ben almost.

“Arti..easy...it’s me..Newt..” His voice was soft, he didn’t know what happened to him, but he was worried, this was not good.

He remembered what Artemis did to calm him down from his panic attack the other day, but he also knew that the Gladers didn’t know about their ‘relationship’, preferring to keep it a secret until they sorted it out...so what could he…

“Arti..please...let go of Ben…”

**Listen to him Artemis, he is not going to hurt you, you know that**!

“Arti...please…”

-

_“Please Arti...please..”_

-

His vision was coming back to normal, his pupils going back to their usual state as he calmed down.

Newt was holding his elbow gently, caressing his skin as he talked softly to him.

“There we go...easy…” He could clearly see now the faces of the Gladers, who stood dumbfounded at him, but his sole focus was on Newt’s voice, guiding him back to reality.

“Newt…?” He managed to get out, watching a smile spread on Newt’s lips that quickly faded as his world turned black, falling to the ground.

“Artemis!”

 

-Timeskip-

 

The feeling of something wet and warm touching his forehead made him groan, making whoever was there gasp.

“Arti…?” _Newt._

His eyelids fluttered open, blue orbs meeting soft brown ones of the known second in command.

“Hey...you’re back!” Artemis nodded, trying to get up until Newt tried to push him back down again.

“Not so fast, you passed out Artemis, you are not getting up-” And he was completely ignored, Artemis sat up on the makeshift ‘bed’ in the med-jacks hut.

“-yet…” He finished, huffing as Artemis gave him an apologetic smile.

“Sorry…”

Newt shook his head, dismissing him with a smile.

“What happened?” He could only remember hearing Newt scream, trying to outrun a crazy Ben chasing him down and then...Nothing, nothing at all.

“Well...you..uhm…” That did not sound so good, had something bad happened? Did he-

_Oh fuck, tell me I didn’t-_

“Please tell me I didn’t hurt you!” He held the blonde’s smaller hands in his slightly bigger ones, concern written all over his face as he tried not to panic.

_If I hurt him, I’m gonna kill myself...I swear._

“What? No! No, you didn’t, don’t worry. You saved me.” Now that's a relief.

“Oh thank fucking god...I swear if I hurt you I would kill myself…” He didn’t mean that to come out, he was just so relieved that he hadn’t hurt Newt that he didn’t notice how his words hurt the second in command.

“Please don’t say that..” He snapped his attention back to the brown eyed male, eyes widening when he saw he was trying not to cry.

“Shit! Newt, hey, I’m sorry, I-I didn’t mean that...fuck, I said that because I thought that I hurt you and I...I’m such a _slinthead…_ ” He covered his face with his hands, which had temporarily let go of Newt’s.

“Yeah...you are.” He smiled sadly at Newt, who was wiping his eyes to stop the tears from coming out, snorting a bit.

“Then what happened?” The whole demeanor changed, Newt’s aura became quite sad, as if someone had told him very bad news.

“What? Newt, what is it?” This had nothing to do with him, right? Shit, he hoped he didn’t do anything wrong. What if instead of hurting Newt, he hurt one of his friends?

“Well, when I went to the deadheads to get fertilizer…”

 

-

_“Bloody hell Ben! You scared the klunk out of me…” He shouted, breathing out in relief until realization dawned on him. “Aren’t you supposed to be in the maze? You aren’t slacking off are you?” His tone was amused, but the smile on my face was replaced by a frown when the runner glared at him._

_“I saw you…” Umm...What? The shuck is he blabbering about? “I saw you and him…” Okay...This doesn’t make any sense whatsoever._

_“I have no idea what-”_

_“Don’t fucking lie! You and him were together before! I saw it! I saw him! With you!” This was starting to get creepy. What the shuck was wrong with Ben? He was acting...Oh hell no._

_“You’re stung…” And with that, Ben charged at Newt, letting out an animalistic snarl._

_“You both should die!”_

-

“The next thing I knew, I was running, trying to escape him...At some point he got out a knife and tried to cut me down.” At the shocked face of Artemis, he added “I’m okay, he missed me.”

“Still...I should’ve gone with you to get fertilizer, then none of this would have happened.” He sighed, he was so disappointed in himself.

“Hey, you had no idea this would happen.” Only if he knew...Maybe he could-

“Actually..I kind of did…” He knew he probably shouldn’t, but he couldn’t keep secrets to Newt, he knew the trackhoe trusted him, so why couldn’t he do that too?

“What do you mean?” Newt was truly confused, what did he mean by that?

“Do you remember this morning? When you told me if I was alright?” The blonde nodded, and Artemis continued. “Well, I had the feeling as if something bad was going to happen, and it only worsened when you wanted to go to the deadheads alone.”

“Is that why you wanted to come with me?” The blue eyed ale nodded, he hoped Newt wouldn’t think he was weird, but the moment his partner brought his hand to his cheek, his doubts faded. “So you have super strength and speed, and now danger intuition. Can you be even more amazing?”

“Well...maybe?” He preferred to wait to tell him about his healing abilities, it was enough shock he could sense impending danger even before it happened, so that kind of craziness should wait. Speaking of craziness…

“Why did you say Ben was _stung_? What does that mean? Did the wound I gave him got infected or something?” He learned enough from Jeff and Clint to know about wounds and other things, even how to cure his own if those two were unavailable, though he didn’t need to. And besides, wounds don’t get infected that fast do they? Or was he bitten by an insect?

“Right..About that.” Now the second in command was suffering the same dilemma Artemis had earlier, this time, it was concerning the maze, and the dangers and secrets within. He saw the looks Artemis kept giving that place, even when the other tried to be subtle. He knew he wanted to explore and see, but he was afraid of losing him, he had been the reason for him to keep living through his... _personal struggle._ The thought of seeing him someday in the future had given him strength to continue.

“I think it’s time we tell you about the maze.” Artemis couldn’t contain his surprise, staring bewildered at Newt. “If….You want to?” His mind kept praying for Artemis to say no, but he knew he couldn’t keep him trapped. “Be honest with me.”

“...Yes, please.” The blonde sighed, but right before he could explain, the door of the med-jack hut bursted open, revealing Chuck, who immediately asked for Newt.

“Newt. Alby says it’s time.” The child was out of breath, and it greatly concerned Artemis.

_Time? Time for-_

“I’m coming, keep watch over Artemis, don’t let him get up.” And just like that, he was gone. But Artemis was not going to let go of this easily.

So he got up, locating his dagger, which was now clean from the blood and put it back on his sheath, ignoring Chuck’s pleas to stop.

“Artemis! You can’t go out there! Newt said-”

“I know what he said, but I’m fine.” And he got out, but he did not expect to see _this_.

The whole Glade was at the maze’s entrance, even the rest of the runners were there, along with Minho, Alby, Gally and others, holding some kind of..spears? They were like the ones he saw in the homestead, but at the time he didn’t know what they were, he guessed he was gonna find out, and not in the best way.

“Artemis c’mon, we can’t be out here.” Chuck had followed him, trying to stop him from walking towards the commotion, but Artemis was much more stronger, so he just pushed him aside, not too hard.

He could hear the rumbling of the doors, meaning they were about to close, and that’s when he saw it, Minho throwing Ben’s things out into the maze.

_What the fuck are they doing?_

He could hear Ben begging, pleading for his life...But why? What the hell was happening?

The rumbling of the doors crept closer, and just as they started moving little by little, Alby’s voice shouted at the Gladers, to prepare themselves, pointing their wood spears at him, forcing him to enter the closing corridor.

His eyes widened as he realized what was happening. Are they gonna put him in the maze for the night?

_I know that you never should harm another Glader, but I thought that they would only send him to the slammer, not this._

He watched as Ben cried and shouted, pleading at his friends to stop, to forgive him, but they didn’t listen, watching as the doors closed with the runner inside.

He saw the Gladers walk away slowly, some even trying to hold back tears at their friend. But couldn’t he come back in the morning? Or what if…

He turned to the closed doors, remembering the ‘roar’ he heard the first time.

..What if whatever made that sound…

He shook his head, this was not happening, oh dear fucking god, he just hoped Ben was alright, he had to be, right?

His eyes locked with Newt’s, who stared at him in shock, probably thinking he would stay inside the hut. He tried to approach him, but Artemis stepped back, not believing what he had just witnessed.

He didn’t want to pull away from Newt, but he needed to think about what just happened, and he knew he wouldn’t get answers from any of them at the moment, so he only had one person to turn to.

_Her_.

  


-WCKD Facility-

“Ava!” Janson shouted, startling the blonde woman, who turned to him questioningly.

“What have I told you about-” She was annoyed that he interrupted her when she was thinking, but her annoyance vanished when she saw the worried expression on the man. “Janson? What is it?”

“It happened.” It was a short answer, but Ava caught immediately the meaning behind it.

“How? When?” She was truly worried, if he got into that state…

“It is better if you see for yourself.”


	8. Chapter 7: Promise to you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, the first week of school had been so stressful I barely had time to work on the story.  
> I hope you like it, kudos and comments are really appreciated.  
> Also, Thominho feels are coming up, little by little, there will be more I promise!  
> And forgive me if this chapter looks short, it looked longer on my phone screen.
> 
> -Ziphonix2001

-WCKD Facility-

“Why didn’t anyone tell me immediately it was happening?” Ava was absolutely furious, she always told them to warn her if something important were to happen to him, especially if  _ that  _ happened. 

“I left the monitor room for a moment Ava, don’t blame it on others, it’s my fault, I wanted to warn you before we triggered that part, but I wasn’t fast enough.” Janson felt terribly guilty, he didn’t want to worry Ava, he knows how much Artemis means to her, and anything that happens to him has a big impact on her.

The woman sighed, she knew Janson cared for Artemis just as much as she did, he was only helping her take care of him, and she appreciated it, her anger fading slightly.

“I know, I’m sorry, it’s just...He’s still just a child, and even if I know he can take care of himself, I still worry....I sent him to a place he could potentially get…” She couldn’t end her sentence, the mere thought of what could happen to him breaking her heart.

“You know he’s a tough boy, just like you, and  _ him _ , he’ll be fine.” Oh how Ava knew that, she knew how Artemis could easily take over ten men without breaking a sweat, but even then, she worried about him.

An idea popped in the man’s head, calling the woman’s name to get her attention, a knowing smile on his lips.

“What if you talk to him to make sure he’s alright yourself?”

-

Artemis was a tad bit afraid to approach the subject at hand, he knew that if he said something wrong, his questions wouldn’t be answered, and it would only frustrate him even more.

_ Fuck this shit. Why is everything so damn complicated in this stupid place! _

**Language Artemis.**

He gasped, his heart beating wildly at the sudden voice in his head. He had been stressing himself so much in just five minutes he wasn’t prepared for it.

_ Don’t do that, you almost gave me a heart attack. _

He could hear the woman chuckle amused, making him huff angrily and a bit embarrassed.

**Forgive me, it was not my intention.**

For some reason, he couldn’t stay mad at her for long, even if she was part of the Creators and all that crap, he couldn’t keep angry for long.

_ Hmph, whatever. _

**Are you alright?**

Her question caught him off guard for a moment, not understanding what she was referring to.

_ Yeah...why do you ask? _

**For what happened before.**

Oh, she was talking about what happened with Ben. But still...why would she worry for him? It’s not like he hurt himself, he simply blacked out.

_ Well I’m fine. Don’t know why you worry. _

He could almost see sadness taking over her, and he felt guilty, he didn’t mean to snap, but he was still a bit confused over what happened earlier that day that he wasn’t sure how to act.

_ Sorry. _

**It’s alright. I know you’re still shaken by what happened, it’s not your fault.**

Her answer snapped him back from reality, remembering about what he wanted to ask her, his confidence growing back.

_ I need to ask you something. _

**It’s about the maze isn’t it?**

How did she- Oh right, he watched everything and knew about Ben and basically everything else, what a stupid question to ask himself.

_ Yeah… _

An awkward pause made Artemis worry, hoping that at least she would answer a small question. He didn’t want to be left in the darkness anymore, he needed to know.

**I cannot tell you.**

For fuck’s sake! He just wanted to-

**But I know someone else who can, and that you’ll trust more than me, hopefully. Now I-**

_ Wait!  _

**...Yes?**

He shouldn’t, God he knew he absolutely shouldn’t ask that..but...

_ You haven’t told me your name yet. I just...you know mine….I could also know yours….right? I mean... _

He could feel her hesitation for a second, before the tension seemingly lifted, her voice was much more soft and gentle now, and Artemis found his mind relaxing to a somewhat peaceful state.

**Ava. You may call me Ava, Artemis.**

That name...that name was so familiar, he could actually picture her in his mind, just like he saw her in his ‘dream’, both name and silhouette reminding him of…..of who?

**We’ll talk later, for now, stay safe.**

And just like that, she was gone, but Artemis took no notice of it. He was still trying to remember where he has seen her before, this was the first time she told him her name, and it triggered flashing blurry images in his mind, leaving him dazed for a couple of seconds.

“Artemis?” A strong voice asked, snapping Artemis out of his trance, turning to stare at his right, watching as Alby climbed the end of the ladder that led to the top of the Watchtower.

“Hey Alby.” He smiled, the leader was one of his few close friends, especially after he helped him and Newt solve their problems.

“You okay?” He nodded, his blue gaze turning to stare at the maze entrance sorrowfully.

“I don’t know…” He couldn’t lie, he didn’t like to lie. It felt so wrong to him, as if he was not trusting people who were in the same condition as him enough, and he kept secrets from them. It was a horrible feeling.

“Newt told me.” He would have laughed, of course Newt would tell someone, he was caring like that. “You feel drawn to it don’t you?”

“I could say no, but you would know I am lying, right?” Alby chuckled, nodding his head as they both stared at the setting sun.

“I have to warn you, nothing that I tell you will be nice or pretty. You know that, right?”Of course he knew, seeing what happened to Ben and the events unfolding, he was sure nothing could faze him anymore.

“From where do you want to start?” He had no idea, not sure what he could ask at the moment. Thankfully, Alby seemed to notice. “How about you ask questions and I try to answer them? Good that?” 

“Yeah...Good that.”

“Ask away.” 

“What exactly is the maze? I know that it’s a labyrinth which you haven’t found the exit yet...but…” He had no idea how to say it, how to ask what was out there.

“The maze is a mysterious and dangerous place. Those doors,” He followed Alby’s finger, pointing at the closed doors. “Open at dawn and close at sundown. And open back again in the morning, over and over again for the three years we’ve been here, with the occasional changing of the corridors.”

_ Three years trying to understand how the maze works and it changing every time? How can they keep track over that? And for so long? _

He shook his head, focusing back on asking questions.

“What about the runners?” He knew they were the only ones allowed into the maze, as he saw many times before, but he wanted to know more about them.

“The runners are the only guys that can enter as you already know.” He nodded, allowing him to continue. “Minho is the keeper of the runners, he along with Thomas and others run the maze, memorize every turn, every section, until they come back before those doors close. And go to the map room.” Minho must feel a lot of pressure on himself, along with Thomas, everyone trusts in them to find an exit, it must be truly stressful.

“There, they map it and try to find a way out.” What was disappointing, was that Minho and the others were most likely doing a very good job, he didn’t doubt that, but the fucking Creators, whoever they were exactly, aside from...Ava and the girl he still didn’t know her name, who were in a ‘neutral zone’ for him, didn’t allow them to make any progress.

“What about what Newt told me? About Ben being stung. What does that mean?” It happened in the maze, right? What kind of insect could make a person go mad like that? It doesn’t seem natural.

“Yeah, what Newt told you is true. Ben was stung...by  _ something  _ that lives in the maze.” Something? What the fuck? What could live there? Not another human, that’s for sure. mainly because there was no food in there or anything. Not even an animal could be living out there, so what is it?

“I have a feeling I’m not going to like whatever you’re going to tell me now, am I?” Alby shook his head, and Artemis sighed, he wanted to know, but at the same time, he didn’t. Ugh, screw everything. “....Go on.”

“ _ Grievers _ .” Wait what? What are- “Big disgusting bugs with a deadly sting. They live deep inside the maze, crawling through those corridors as they hunt us down, if you’re lucky enough, you might escape them, if not, you die.” 

“But you die either way if they sting you, so there’s no escape from them really, is there?” The leader shook his head, a frown on his lips that did not go unnoticed by Artemis. This had to happen before, otherwise there was no way they could know about those  _ things  _ if it wasn’t for someone acting as ‘bait’. He shuddered at the thought, they were all kids still, how could people like the Creators be so evil? So stupidly wicked to send young boys that could have so many opportunities in life to their utter demise? What kind of sick fucks did that?

_ None of them deserves that. Not Alby, Thomas, Minho...Not even Gally, as much as a douchebag as he is, he doesn’t deserve that.  _ His gaze flickered to the area the Gladers ate, seeing Newt sitting with Thomas and Chuck, talking about something.  _ Newt doesn’t deserve this life either, not him. _

Alby kept watching Artemis’ emotions crossing his face, mainly anger and sadness. But even  _ care  _ managed to appear, as the blue eyed male stared at the Second In Command, a tiny smile on his lips.

The older male was trying to decide whether to tell Artemis about a certain matter concerning a known accented boy. He had seen how close both of them had become, and often wondered if it wasn’t because they…

However they were, it didn’t matter, they were happy, Newt is happy, it had been so long since he had seen him so comfortable with someone, aside from Minho and Thomas, so it was a really nice change.

“...Can I ask you something now?” Artemis sighed, trying to calm his nerves and listen to what the leader wanted to ask of him. “About you and Newt. What is he to you?”

_ Holy shit, I wasn’t expecting that. What the fuck am I supposed to say now?  _

“Uhm...well, we...uhh..” This conversation had taken a very different turn in just a matter of seconds, dear God, he always seemed to end in some kind of weird awkward talks, this was so not fair. “...We are...good friends?”

_ Yeah, sure Artemis, friends. Friends that go kissing and making out, you know, the normal thing. Everybody does that…...I am fucking screwed in soooo many levels. _

“Oh really?” Alby was smirking, shit, it’s impossible to lie. Artemis you are a terrible liar. Fuck.

“You don’t believe it do you?” The leader’s smile widened, as Artemis lowered his head in defeat, sighing heavily, his gaze staring at Newt, his smile coming back even if he tried to stop, biting his lip.

“You care for him. Don’t you?” He didn’t want to admit it out loud, not because he was embarrassed, but because he had no idea how anyone would react. But either way, he decided to be honest.

“A lot. Since I came to the Glade.” He answered truthfully, remembering how he saw Newt for the first time, inside the wretched box.

“It’s understandable, he was the one that got you out of the deadheads when you hid there.” It was true, he was sure that if any of the others tried to come get him, he would have attacked them, but with Newt…Just the thought of hurting Newt made his stomach sick. He couldn’t do that.

“Yeah...thank god it was him, I don’t think I’d appreciate if it was Gally who came to get me, pretty sure a broken wrist wouldn’t be the only thing from me.” They couldn’t contain their laughs, imagining how pissed Gally would have been of Artemis if he had been taken down once more by a ‘greenie’.

“Why do you ask?” He wanted to know what Alby meant, he didn’t mean what he thought he meant did he?

“Well, I’ve seen you two so close the past week, and I was wondering if there was anything going between you two.” 

_ Great, what should I say now?  Okay, don’t panic Artemis, you know you can trust in Alby.  _

“Uhh...I guess so? It’s just...we still haven’t.…” This was so hard to explain. He and Newt were big messes, but they cared for the other, so it didn’t matter much.

“Figured it out?” Artemis nodded, thankful that Alby aided him in finishing that sentence.”Well..you make him happy, and I haven’t seen him smile that much in a long time. Not even when Thomas came to the Glade.”

Knowing Newt hadn’t been so happy like he was now made Artemis feel worried. He had friends right? Maybe...it was because they were trapped in here?

_ It’s understandable I guess, I mean, Newt had been here longer than me, and even Thomas or Minho. I can’t imagine what that must’ve felt like. I would have gone fucking insane in this place. _

“Listen, it’s not my place to say this but, Newt had a really tough life here in the Glade. I want you to protect him, can you do that?” Alby was a truly good leader, even if sometimes he was rough, he cared for everyone here.

“I will. “ He didn't falter, his voice was steady and confident. He wouldn’t let Alby down. Newt was the person he cared for the most in this new life of his, and he’ll do anything to protect him.

“Good that.” With that, Alby made his way to the ladder to climb down the tower, but remembered something. “Hey Artemis?”

“Hmm?” 

“Tomorrow I’m gonna go with Minho into the maze, which means Newt will be in charge. Don’t let him get too stressed over, he tends to overwork himself.”

_ That’ll put a lot of pressure on Newt, but I’ll make it as bearable as I can. _

“You can count on me Alby.” With an approving nod, Alby climbed down, making his way to the Gladers to have supper.

_ I should probably have some food too, and I better apologize to Newt for leaving like that before.  _

He descended down the ladder, jumping when he was a mere feet from the floor, walking towards Newt and the others.

Hearing fast footsteps behind him made him turn around, watching as Minho, who wasn’t wearing his runner gear, ran up to stand beside him.

“Hey Artemis, you alright?”  Minho was concerned, though he’d never admit it out loud, when he saw how Artemis talked with Alby. Actually fearing for his friend. That, and he still was a bit shaken about what happened earlier, at least for what Thomas had told him, like the rest.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” 

“Good, good…” The way Miho trailed off made Artemis suspicious,  he knew he wanted to ask something, but his hesitation made it impossible. Weird,Minho is usually straightforward to the point, so what made him so silent?

He followed the Asian’s line of sight, seeing Thomas sitting with Newt, smiling and laughing at something Chuck had said along with the Second in Command.

“You alright Minho?” That snapped him out of his trance, staring back at Artemis as he huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Yeah, perfect. Look, I just wanted to thank you.” Thank him? For what?

“For what?” He was confused, what was Minho thanking him for?

“For protecting Newt.” Oh, for that. Right, he had saved the blonde from Ben’s attack. Well, he wasn’t gonna stand there and watch his boyfriend get hurt was he? What kind of prick would let something happen to the person they care for the most?

“It’s nothing. I wasn’t gonna stand there and watch him getting hurt.” He smiled, his gaze meeting Newt’s for a brief moment, who smiled back at him, a tiny blush on his cheeks before he turned to talk to Thomas.

“You care for him a lot don’t you?” You know what? Artemis didn’t bother hiding it anymore. He cared for Newt, and if anyone had anything to say against it, they could go fuck themselves.

“Yep. A whole lot.” Minho chuckled beside him, drawing attention back on himself. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. You and I are really alike.” Alike? In what?

He followed the runner’s line of sight yet again, and unsurprisingly, he was staring at Thomas again, the faintest of smiles on his face. His mind connected the dots, now understanding what the keeper was referring to.

“So…you and Thomas?” Minho seemed startled, clearing his throat as he glared at Artemis playfully, making the other snort. “Sorry, sorry. Touchy subject, I won’t interfere with your love story.”

“Shut up shank. Besides, you’re the same with Newt.” Oh, well, he got him there. 

“Touché.”

“Artemis!”

“Minho!”

The shouts from both Newt and Thomas calling them out made them snap their attention to them. Seeing the boys make a spot for them, with two plates of food they couldn’t wait to devour.

As they sat down on the log, the first thing they did was grab the plates, almost choking as they wolfed down their food, much to the amusement of their partners.

“Woah, I would be careful Thomas, you too Newt. You have wild animals sleeping next to you two.” It made them laugh, and for a moment, they forgot about the maze, about Ben. It was a very peaceful moment, that unfortunately would not last for too long, but for now, everything was okay in their world.

After an hour or so of chatting, some of the Gladers started bidding goodnight, retiring to their hammocks.

Chuck had left not too long ago, saying he was tired, leaving just the runners, Newt and Artemis. But not for long. because both brown eyed boys let out yawns almost simultaneously, the other two sharing a look, nodding.

Minho came up behind Thomas, holding him up and carrying him towards his hammock, while the slightly younger runner muttered a ‘I can stay up a bit longer’, making the keeper chuckle, shaking his head at the childish behaviour of the boy.

Meanwhile, Artemis was holding Newt piggyback, while the blonde rested his chin atop of his head, his arms holding onto Artemis’ neck gently as not to choke him, while the blue eyed male held his legs up, walking towards their shared hammock.

Almost all the Gladers were already asleep, and Artemis smiled seeing Minho sleeping in his hammock, which was right next to Thomas’.

As he and Newt laid down, he couldn’t help but stare at Newt, who opened his eyes feeling a stare on him.

“What is it?” His voice was low and a bit slurry from sleep, making Artemis chuckle lowly, to avoid waking the Gladers.

“Nothing. Don’t worry.” He kissed the other’s forehead gently, to what Newt gave a happy hum, snuggling close to Artemis’ built chest, sighing as sleep started overtaking him. “Sweet dreams, Newt. I love you.” And just like that, he dozed off as well, holding Newt close to him, as if he could protect him from anything.

-WCKD Facility-

Ava smiled at the screen, seeing Artemis so happy and calm made her happy as well. But the pleasant sensation left as quickly as it came, remembering that the peacefulness would not last for long.

“Ava.” A young girl’s voice asked, making the woman turn around, standing face to face with a young teenage girl, with long dark brunette hair and equal dark blue eyes, wearing white clothing like her.

She acknowledged the girl’s presence with a curt nod, but shifted her gaze back on the screen, as the girl followed her example.

“I’m glad he got to see him again. I was starting to worry of all the sleepless nights he spent staring at these screens for hours.” 

“Me too. I hate doing this to him.” He shouldn’t be living like this, none of them should...but it was for the best.

“I know. But he’ll be alright, you know that.” 

“I know. Thank you  **_Teresa_ ** .”


	9. Chapter 8: Calm before the storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! Things are gonna get interesting in this chapter. Hope you like it!  
> Also, homophobic language, please do not be offended by that, I support the LGTB Community, so no hate okay? This is all part of the story.

_ “Arti?” Newt asked softly, staring up at Artemis sitting beside him, a blanket over their shoulders as they cuddled close. _

_ “Yeah?” The blue eyed male answered, holding the younger boy closer. _

_ “How do you say ‘I love you’ in that language?” His question caught him by surprise, but he smiled nonetheless. _

_ “Ich liebe dich*.” His voice deepened a little, making Newt blush, loving how his boyfriend talked in a different language. It was one of the many things he loved about him. _

_ “I-Ich liebe d-dich.” He stuttered, trying to say the words as perfectly as he could, only making Artemis smile wider at him with adoration, kissing his forehead gently. _

_ “Das stimmt, mein Prinz*.” He gave a low chuckle, amused at the confused face the blonde made when he said that. _

_ “What does that mean?” _

_ “Don’t worry about it, Newtie.” _

-

Artemis blinked his eyes open, yawning as he stretched a bit, mindful of not waking up the sleeping Glader resting his head on his chest.

He smiled, softly caressing his resting boyfriend’s hair, hugging him close to him.

“Ich liebe dich, mein Prinz.” He had no idea how he could speak in a completely different language. Perhaps he was able to do it before the maze? Well, he wasn’t complaining too much about it if he was honest with himself.

_ Come to think of it, I have spoken in another language before. In that memory of when I was younger. What the heck?  _

He shrugged it off, deciding to ignore it since he knew his mind would not cooperate with him.

_ I still hate this amnesia thing, it’s so fucking annoying. _

“Arti…?” Newt’s whisper brought him back to reality, glancing down to see the second in command waking up, looking up at him with half open brown eyes.

“Morning, Newt. Did you sleep well?” The only response he got was a low hum, right before Newt held onto him closer.

“Glad you did, you have a long day ahead of you. You sure you don’t want to sleep some more?” At the reminder of the long day he would have, Newt groaned, sighing heavily.

“Don’t worry, I’ll help you if you want, good that?” 

“Yeah, good that.”

After both boys had woken up, they decided to have breakfast with the keeper and the leader, to decide which responsibilities they’d have.

Thomas also joined them, and he tried to convince Minho into letting him come, but the runner denied him, saying he should stay to help Newt in watching over the Glade.

“Keep watch over both of them, will ya?” Minho asked Artemis, as they approached the maze doors, his gaze staring at the young runner’s form chatting with Newt and Alby ahead of them.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure of it.” He reassured his friend, to what Minho gave a genuine smile. patting Artemis in the shoulder in a friendly manner.

“Appreciate that, Artemis.”

After that, the trio watched as both keeper and leader ran into the maze, disappearing around the corner. 

It was then that Artemis was overwhelmed with a strange feeling, as if....something was not right. He had that feeling before, it was the same he had yesterday with Ben, but why again? 

_ God don’t tell me there’s gonna be more crazy shit now, can’t I take a fucking break?! Fucking seriously. They really like to torture little kids, especially me, don’t they? Do they hate me or what? I seem to have a lot of enemies. _

“Ugh…” He snapped out of his daydream, turning to stare at his boyfriend who sighed tiredly, pouting. A long day ahead of him making him feel the stress already.

“Hey,” He grabbed his hand gently, lacing their fingers together as Newt stared up at him. “It’s gonna be okay.  I’ll help you, don’t worry.”

“Thanks Arti.” Both smiled, grateful that at least they would have each other.

“If you want, I can help the Trackhoe’s today Artemis, so you can help Newt keep watch over the Glade.” Thomas suggested, which honestly was quite a good idea.

“Thanks Thomas.” The runner nodded, before running off to tell the Keeper of the trackhoe’s about the plan. “Alright, where do you want to start?”

“Hmm…” The second in command hummed, thinking of the plan for the day. “How about we make a tour of the whole Glade? See if everyone is ready at their posts?”

“Sounds good to me.” And with that, they started walking through the place. Watching as the Gladers went about their day, working as usual.

Meeting with Winston and Frypan as well, along with Chuck who helped whoever needed help. Artemis felt a bit bad about the kid, whenever someone pointed out he had the job of a ‘slopper’, which felt even more shaming than the words they used on him, like ‘greenie’ or ‘shank’.

There was one thing that Artemis was a bit sceptical to do, and that was follow Newt to ‘visit’ the Builders. The older male knew this would get serious the moment he stepped close, but then again, he chose to follow his partner, remembering the promise he made to both the leader and his boyfriend.

_ I don't care if Gally pisses me off, he can go fuck himself for all I care. I am going to stand beside Newt no matter what. _

The feeling of someone grabbing his hand made him look down, seeing his and the trackhoe’s hand held together, concern on the brown orbs of the blonde.

“You sure you want to come? It's okay if you want to stay behind. I can handle it.” Artemis smiled, shaking his head, gripping the other’s hand tightly.

“Nah, don't worry, it's fine.” 

_ I hope so. If Gally doesn't say anything that could trigger me, it should be golden.  _

“Look who's here, the king of weirdos.” 

_ Nope. Gally is still being an asshole. Good to know he still has that arrogance of his intact, would be a shame if he lost it. _

“Nice to see you too, Gally.” He answered with an eye roll, his hand no longer holding newt’s, instead, his arms crossed over his chest, as he silently glared at the keeper and sometimes at the other builders who looked at him weirdly.

“Enough.” Woah, Newt could act like a true leader as well if he got angry. Still, he looked cute, and it made Artemis hold back a smile, his anger dissipating for a second. “We just came here to see if you were doing your job Gally, not to start a fight.” 

“ _ We _ ? So now you decide to team up with this guy? After what happened with Ben?” Hold on a second, is he...is he  _ blaming him  _ for what happened yesterday? This is unbelievable, he was just trying to protect Newt, who knows what could have happened if he hadn't stopped the crazed runner? And also, how was it even his fault that Ben got stung? He didn’t decide their fates, the Creators did.

“For your information,  _ Galileo _ , I was trying to protect Newt from someone who would have most likely strangled him or hurt him badly, and I wasn't going to allow that. It's not my fault he got stung by a griever.” He could feel Newt’s hand touch his elbow gently, trying to ease some of the tension he started to have again.

A small action that did not go unnoticed by the keeper, who glared as he realized what was happening.

“You  _ care  _ for him don't you?” At the question, almost all the builders put their attention on them, gaining the attention of others, who came closer to see what was the commotion, including Thomas with Chuck, it was then that the older male realized their voices have been quite loud. Meanwhile, Artemis started getting angry, pushing Newt to stand behind him, his arm acting as a protective shield.

“So what if I do? It's not of your business you fucking moron.” By now, the whole Glade was watching, Artemis and Newt’s friends staying a bit closer in case things got ugly.

“Disgusting. Didn't have enough with Minho and Thomas, now we have you and our second in command. That's why he can get away with anything can't he, Newt? You’ll get him out of whatever trouble he got into, won't you? ” Oh he did  _ not  _ just say  _ that _ . If there is something else Artemis found out about himself at that precise moment, is that he did not appreciate that people talked negatively about his  _ relationship status  _ with Newt, or even Minho and Thomas’ relationship. They were his friends, and he would not stand someone who talked about them wrong.

“Shut up Gally, you don't know a single thing about this.” This time, it was Thomas who answered the builder, being held back by Frypan and Winston, who glared daggers at the keeper, pretty much like everyone else.

Did Gally seriously have a personal vendetta, not only against Artemis, but against Thomas and Minho? The fuck was his problem? It is one thing to mess with him, but it will turn personal if he started talking shit about others that he cared about.

**Artemis, enough please.**

Great, now Ava had to come into the picture, not a really good time.

_ Shut it Ava, I won't allow him to talk bad about my Newt. _

And just like that, he  _ blocked  _ her out of his mind, even before she had the chance to protest. He had no idea how, but it didn’t matter.

“I know enough to understand that this will only cause chaos in here. Ever since you came to the Glade, some  _ things  _ have started happening.” That's it, Artemis had enough of this insufferable annoying devil. 

He shook off Newt’s hand holding his arm, walking up to the builder fast and pushing him with enough force to throw him to the ground.

“You'll wish you hadn't done that.” Was Gally’s response before he got up from his spot on the ground, charging at Artemis with full strength. But he missed, as the light brown haired male stepped aside at the last second.

Both boys glared at one another, ready to charge again before any other Glader could stop it. 

But a sound made everyone stop, staring up at the sky in shock.

The thing they noticed was...that the usual white cloud were now….grey? When did they change?. Didn't that mean…?

Lightning could be seen between the clouds, some of the boys cowering at the loud rumble of thunder that followed after, drops of water showering on them.

“It's raining!” Some of the boys shouted, trying to cover themselves with their arms or whatever they had on their hands. 

“Everyone leave what you’re doing, no work for now, get cover.” At Newt’s command, the Gladers run underneath the roofs of the closest buildings. 

“We’ll settle this later, Greenie.” Like that, Gally left Artemis behind in the rain, while the light brown haired male glared at him.

“Arti, come on, let’s go to the Homestead.” He let Newt drag him along, not uttering a single word as he tried to calm himself.

Once they were under the Homestead’s roof, Artemis felt himself sigh loudly, Newt, Thomas, Chuck and some others like Frypan and Winston staring at him in concern.

“Hey, you okay?” The blonde asked,lowering his hand to hold Artemis’ limp one, intertwining their fingers together in an attempt to comfort his boyfriend.

“Yeah….I’m fine.” Artemis tried to reassure the blonde, but deep inside he couldn’t even convince himself. Still, he tried to make an effort, and try to also forget about the strange feeling of things not being right.

“So...what do we do now?” Winston asked, not knowing what they could do with rain as a new weather factor. “I mean, I can still do some work in the blood house, but I don’t know about you guys.” It was true, the bloodhouse was one of the few places that had a finished roof, and the slicers could work there normally, but even then...

“The trackhoe’s can’t do much in the gardens, we’ll get completely wet and we can’t let anyone get sick if we can help it.” Zart explained, looking at Frypan who was in a similar situation.

“The kitchen isn’t a place to work either, I mean, we are practically in the open, we won’t get any work done with the rain pouring down on us.” The cook explained, shaking his head as he stared at the raining water.

“Doesn’t look like it’s stopping any time soon.” Thomas was right, with each passing second, the rain seemed to get more intense, to the point they had to stand as far away from the edge of the roof.

“We’ll stay here, no work for today, I’m sure Alby will understand.” Newt commanded, still staying close to Artemis, with their hands held together. “Can one of you tell the others about our plan?” 

“I’ll go, be back in a minute.” With that, Jeff ran off, holding a crate cover above him to protect himself from the pouring rain.

“I hope he and Minho are alright, with the rain coming down like this, I’m pretty sure at least one of them will come back sick.” Clint commented, the rest of the Gladers nodding in agreement. 

The only thing they could do now, was wait.

It’s been couple hours since it started raining, and it had no signs of stopping.

None of the Gladers had any chance of getting any work done, not even Frypan, though thankfully, the cook had an ace under his sleeve, still having leftovers of yesterday’s dinner.

Artemis was much more calmer now, the sight and sound of the rain taking over his senses. He had Newt cuddled next to him, as his arm was wrapped around the blonde’s shoulders, a blanket over them to keep them from the cold, courtesy of Jeff, who gave all the Gladers something to keep warm.

Artemis didn’t need it, his body seemed to know what to ‘do’ when the weather changed. If it was cold, Artemis felt warm, or as Newt said, like a furnace. And if it was somewhat hot, his body was as cold as ice, at least according to the blonde. It was odd, but  _ nice  _ at the same time.

Artemis turned to stare at Thomas, who had a blanket covering him as he stared at the maze doors.

“Thomas?” He called out, noticing how the runner sighed, before turning to stare at Artemis. “You know he can take care of himself.”

“Yeah...I know. But I still worry.” Artemis smiled, his relationship with Newt was pretty much the same as Thomas’ and Minho’s. They were protective of their partners.

Near evening, the rain started to settle down, little by little, allowing the Gladers to come out and gather at the doors, to wait for Alby and Minho.

The sensation of something being wrong came back on Artemis, and he couldn't help but worry.

_ Please don’t let anything happen to Minho and Alby, not them. _

He glanced at Thomas, who stared at the maze corridor anxiously, while trying to be calmed down by Newt.

“I’m sure he’s fine Tommy, you know how Minho is. They’re gonna make it.” The second in command tried to reassure his best friend, sometimes staring back at Artemis in concern.

Everyone waited for fifteen minutes straight, or even more, the worry starting to appear on the Gladers faces as time ticked by.

“Is it normal they’d take this long?” Artemis asked curiously, the bad feeling creeping up in him.

“Minho’s always careful. He’ll be back.” Even little Chuck was concerned.

_ This is not a good sign. I don’t like this one fucking bit. _

He stared at Thomas for a moment, seeing him trying to remain calm, but he was nervous, even if Newt tried to reassure him as best as he could.

The ground shook beneath his feet, a rumble coming from deep within the maze. It went unnoticed by the Gladers at first, Artemis being the only one who could hear it.

Once it became louder, the faces of the boys paled, they knew exactly what that meant.

The group flinched, their eye widening as they saw the doors slowly moving towards each other.

“Oh no…” 

“ _ Shuck _ don’t tell me…”

“This doesn’t sound good.”

Many boys whispered from the back, desperately trying to catch a glimpse of their leader and the keeper of the runners.

_ Shit, this is not good, if they don’t get here within twenty seconds, they will... _

No time to think about that, they were going to make it, they had to.

Someone shouted from one of the corridors, barely audible over the rumbling of the doors closing in, and Artemis froze.

_ Was that- _

Cheers, shouts and words of encouragement were heard all around him, as Minho came from around the corner on the right. But something was not right.

The keeper was shouting, as he dragged an unconscious Alby behind him.

“Minho!” Thomas was screaming the keeper’s name, and he tried to run into the maze, but he was held back by Frypan and Winston.

“They’re not gonna make it…” Newt was gripping Artemis hand tightly, trying to hold back from running into the maze, but Artemis paid no mind to it. In fact, he paid no mind to anything.

The screams were white noise to him, his focus fixed on Minho and Alby, as the runner kept shouting back at Thomas, who cried loudly for him as he tried to get out of the keepers grasp.

-

_ “Listen, it’s not my place to say this but, Newt had a really tough life here in the Glade. I want you to protect him, can you do that?” Alby was a truly good leader, even if sometimes he was rough, he cared for everyone here. _

_ “I will. “ He didn't falter, his voice was steady and confident. He wouldn’t let Alby down. Newt was the person he cared for the most in this new life of his, and he’ll do anything to protect him. _

-

He knew he promised he’d protect Newt. But he was not going to leave behind a friend. He was not going to let anyone else die if he could help it.

He turned to Newt, his blue eyes staring at the brown orbs fixed on Minho and Alby’s forms.

The second in command turned to him, feeling his stare.

Artemis approached him fast, taking a hold of the blonde’s cheeks and giving him a quick but meaningful kiss.

“Verzeiht mir*.” It was the only thing he said, before he quickly pulled away and sprinted into the maze just as the doors were almost shut.

The Gladers shouted behind him, shock and confusion growing among them as Artemis entered the maze.

“Arti!” Newt’s scream was the last thing he heard, his groans muffling every other sound as he squished his way through those walls. Losing his footing as he crossed to the other side.

Behind him, the doors slammed shut.

“Good job…” Artemis turned to Minho, who stopped dragging Alby’s unconscious body, standing on his knees as he stared at Artemis. “...You just killed yourself.”

-WCKD’s Facility-

“It is done.” Ava let out a sigh, her eyes blurring with tears as she saw Artemis inside the maze.

Janson and Teresa were on each side of her, sharing a concerned stare.

“Ava?” The man tried to gain the attention of the woman, but her gaze was unmoving. Watching as the screens replayed the events that just unfolded.

How Artemis had kissed Newt, how he ran into the maze…

All of it replaying in her mind.

“....Begin.” It was a simple command, but both her assistants understood.

It was time to see the  _ real stuff _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> German language:  
> Das stimmt, mein Prinz. - That’s right, my Prince.  
> Verzeiht mir. - Forgive me.
> 
> Forgive the grammatical errors, I do not speak German good.


	10. Chapter 9: Unstoppable

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Graphic violence? I guess? Don't know, just heavy stuff, be warned.  
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. And again, more different languages! Yay!   
> Umm...anyways, who's excited for the Venom movie!? I'm gonna see it in a few hours in my country! I'm so excited!
> 
> -Ziphonix2001

“What the shuck were you thinking?” Minho shouted, glaring at Artemis angrily, who was getting up from the ground, holding onto the wall next to him.

“I was trying to help you!” He protested, his gaze shifting between the keeper’s and the leader’s unconscious body propped against the wall, right next to Minho’s.

“You don’t understand. We’re already dead….” Wait...what?

“What do you mean?” He was confused, how were they supposed to be dead? The only thing they had to do was wait until the doors opened at dawn, nothing else-

_ Oh fuck… _

He forgot that tiny important detail about the maze.

A loud shriek echoed within the corridors, the maze rumbling as it started changing patterns.

_ Oh, shit. What the fuck have I done? _

-

Back at the Glade, the boys were still gathered around the closed doors of the maze. Still unsure of what had happened.

Newt, along with Thomas - Who stopped struggling against the grip the cook and the slicer had on him - were frozen on their spots. Still unbelieving what happened.

The second in command didn’t even notice tears falling from his eyes, staining his cheeks as his mind replayed what happened.

Two of his best friends were trapped in that merciless and dreadful maze for the night, along with the person he cared for the most in this damned place.

_ Arti...please no...you can’t...no….not you... _

He couldn’t believe it. It was not true. It couldn’t be! 

This was just a nightmare he was having! It had to be! Artemis couldn’t leave him! Not now!

Thomas was not on his best condition either, unlike Newt, he didn’t try to hide his worry and pain. Sobbing Minho’s name along with some curses as tears fell down freely as he was being comforted by an equally worried Chuck.

The last words Artemis had told him;  _ “Verzeiht mir” _

What did it mean? It almost sounded like…

 

_ An apology. _

-

“What do we do now?” Artemis asked, his gaze still staring at the doors.

“There’s  _ nothing  _ we can do. We’re  _ dead _ . We have  _ no chance _ to survive. No one has  _ ever  _ survived a night in the maze.” Artemis had enough of Minho’s depressive and hopeless behaviour. He was not going to die. He was going to come back. For Newt.

So, he stormed over at Minho, gripping his shirt by the collar and pushing him up against the wall.

“Listen to me you shuck face. You are not going to die. I am not going to die. And Alby won’t die either. And I’ll be damned if I leave Newt alone in the Glade. You should think about Thomas too. They both need us. So stop being a pessimistic slinthead and help me keep Alby safe while we try to figure out something, good that?” 

By the time he was finished with his speech, he let go of the runner, letting him fall back down while staring up at him in shock.

Artemis paid no mind to him, focusing on Alby, trying to figure out if he was badly hurt, aside from being unconscious.

“What...what the hell happened to him...?” He seemed fine to him. So what made him-

“He’s been  _ stung _ .” Minho muttered, his gaze cast downwards. He was still speechless at the determination Artemis had displayed a few seconds prior.

Meanwhile, the word ‘ _ stung’  _ rang in his ears, and Artemis felt his heart stop.

_ Oh no...no shucking way. _

He carefully lifted Alby’s shirt, gasping as he saw the wound.

“Dear fucking god...How the hell did this happen?” He thought Alby was only going to retrace Ben’s route. It shouldn’t have been too complicated could it?

“We were following Ben’s footsteps...and we came across the dead body of a griever…” A dead...griever? What the fuck?

“If it was dead...how did Alby manage to sting himself?” This made no sense! Alby wouldn’t sting himself purposefully. So how?

“It was acting, it was alive the whole time. And when Alby came closer, it suddenly woke up, and jumped at Alby before I had the chance to warn him. Then it left, didn’t even care I was there.” Holy shit. That must have been shocking to see.

_ But why would it play dead? Why did it do that and then run away? I thought the grievers killed everything on sight. It should have also tried to hurt Minho, right? _

His mind suddenly went to the Creators, to Ava. And to the girl.

Anger flared inside him. Why did they do this to them? Were they really that heartless? 

_ And to think I started to trust you...how can I be such an idiot? _

**Artemis** ?

Speak of the devil. Ava had to come back.

_ No Ava. I don’t have time for your stupid sick games. Don’t you think you’ve had enough? _

**I am terribly sorry Artemis. But I need you to listen. Please.**

_ No. Enough. Just leave me alone. _

“Artemis? You alright there?” Minho’s voice brought him back. Turning to stare at him, his glare softening.

“Perfect.” He silenced Ava’s pleas from his mind. Trying to ignore her as best he could. 

The maze rumbled beneath his feet, both his and Minho’s gazes staring up at the darkening sky.

“We gotta keep on the move.” Artemis agreed, but once he looked over at Alby, he knew they couldn’t leave him like that. If those grievers were going to roam around and found Alby’s body, it would not be a pretty sight.

“Wait. We can’t leave him like this.” He knew that Alby would probably not make it, not while being stung, but even then...He was the leader of the Glade, the Gladers still needed him, and Artemis would not abandon a friend.

“But why? We can’t do anything for him.”

“Would you want to be left behind by your own friends?”

“...”

“That’s what I thought.”

-

Back at the Glade, the tension had gone up quite a bit. And it was getting worse.

“I knew he was trouble! Everything started changing the moment he came! And now he is stuck in the maze with Alby and Minho!” Gally shouted, angrily pacing around the doors.

“Gally, come on man. He was just trying to help them.” Frypan tried to calm the builder. But even then, his friend refused to listen to him.

“No. Things were going great until that  _ weirdo  _ came in here. And now we lost our leader and one of our keepers. All because of him.” At the name calling, the second in command sat up from his sitting position against the wall, while the Gladers shifted their gaze to him, concerned.

“...Newt?” Thomas called out, sniffing quietly as he watched his best friend march towards the keeper, a hard glare set on the boy.

“Don’t look at me like that Newt. Your freaky  _ boyfriend  _ is the one that’s going to kill us a-” The sound of a slap could be heard, echoing through the whole Glade as the boys stared at their second leader, their jaws on the ground.

Gally’s face had been turned to the side, a red mark with the shape of a hand could be seen thanks to the light of the torches.

Newt was breathing heavily, glaring at the keeper with anger in his brown orbs.

“Don’t you  _ dare  _ call him freak again. Or I swear to god I will feed you to the grievers myself.” And just like that, he went back to his spot, leaning his forehead against the cold wall.

Thomas gave a quick glare at Gally, before coming to sit beside Newt.

-

Artemis thanked that he had his dagger with him. So he could help cut the vines hanging from the top of the walls with Minho.

They had been trying to find a way to keep Alby safe while they ran the maze, since it started changing, they knew they couldn’t stay in one place. And carrying the leader around would slow them down.

Artemis strength made it easy to pull Alby as far away from the ground as possible. While they ‘covered’ him the best they could with other vines.

“Okay. I think it’s good enough.” 

“Yeah. Now we need to think about what we should do.” Artemis could hear the maze the whole time, but there were also few shrieks and faint roars, which meant they wouldn’t be alone for too long.

“I think we should split up.” Minho suggested, staring at the empty corridor on his left.

“What? Why?” His plan was crazy! If they split up, how would Artemis guide himself through this place? He hadn’t been in the maze before, so how would he be able to come back to the Glade at morning? Well,  _ if  _ he made it.

Besides, wouldn't they have a better chance to stay alive if they stayed together?

But Minho paid no attention to him, running towards his chosen corridor.

“Minho wait! How the hell am I going to find my way back here!?” He shouted after him, the runner slowing to a stop.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be easy to find you. Just try to remember the turns, and also, be careful, don’t die.” And just like that, he was gone, leaving Artemis standing in the dark corridor.

_ Thanks for the crappy advice Minho. That's surely going to keep me fucking alive. _

He took one last look at the closed doors, as if he could reach out to Newt.

 

_ I’ll come back to you, Newt.  _

-

Newt couldn’t fall asleep, no matter how hard he tried. The mere thought of Artemis all alone in the maze made his heart ache. Not to mention, if he ever encountered a griever…

_ No, not my Artemis. He can do it. _

“Newt?” Thomas’ voice took Newt out of his trance, turning to stare at the runner with sad eyes. “They’ll be alright, Minho and Artemis are strong. They’ll make it.”

“I know...thanks, Tommy.”

“Anytime.”

He trusted Artemis, he knew he’d come back, he just had to have a little bit more faith.

_ I’ll come back to you, Newt. _

His eyes widened. Was that…?

He looked up, staring at the moon peeking over the walls.

“You okay?” Thomas asked, worried at the surprised face his friend had.

“Yeah! Yes...fine..” He lied, but he didn’t want to worry his best friend more than he already was. But...

He could’ve sworn he heard Artemis’ voice in his mind. 

How…?

-

Artemis ran through the corridors, trying his best to stay as far away from the griever roars as he could. His speed was very much needed for this along with his hearing and ‘night vision’.

He kept thinking about Newt, the promise he made himself. He was going to make, he had to. There was just no way in heaven or hell he’d live Newt alone in that place.

He felt lucky he still hadn’t run into one of those things. Not sure it would be a nice meeting. Unfortunately, his luck was going to run out sooner or later. He just hoped it was later.

The sound of something crawling nearby made him shiver, and not exactly from the cold.

What made it more difficult, was that another one was on his way of escaping, creeping closer on him.

_ Shit. They’re cornering me. Fucking hell. _

He had to think, and fast. or else he would become these beasts dinner. Not exactly your cup of tea.

“Nie czyńcie mi tego teraz Bóg*.” Oh good, speaking another language when you’re going to be eaten by giant monsters. The perfect way to die. Good one Artemis. 

No time to think about this, he had to focus in hiding from these creatures.

It was easier said than done, both his ways were suddenly blocked by big green monstrosities, with limbs like a spider, long tail and sharp teeth bared. But they almost seemed...mechanical? Were they robots or something? The fuck?

The creatures charged at him. And he let out a scream out of pure frustration laced with panic.

“Zatrzymanie*!”

-

The sleeping Gladers woke up as the loud roar of a griever echoed within the maze. Newt was one of them, his eyes opening wide as he stared at the maze, his breathing ragged. He could have sworn he heard someone scream along with the roar. 

And by the way Thomas turned to him with a sad gleam in his eyes, he knew he hadn’t imagined it.

But he refused to believe it. It couldn’t be. He finally had him with him. He couldn’t lose him, not now.

“Artemis...”

-

Minho was running around, trying to avoid the grievers the best he could. He stopped once he heard a roar. 

And a scream.

His eyes widened, mind racing as he thought of the worst case scenarios.

“ _ Shuck _ .”

-

The griever in front of him crawled fast towards him, making him take a small step back.

He closed his eyes, hoping that all of this was a very horribly detailed dream. 

_ Newt, I love you. _

After that, everything faded for him. He didn’t know he opened his eyes again, the iris shrinking to a faint string of blue.

He let out an animalistic growl, glaring at the griever. Just as it came within an inch of him, Artemis stepped aside, making the griever miss its chance to bite down on him.

Artemis wasn’t done, he ran to stand behind the monster, taking a hold of the tail and pulling it backwards. The griever was practically thrown against one of the far walls by Artemis’ incredible strength with a shriek.

He focused his attention and anger back on the other, that ran at him as fast as it could when it noticed that its ‘friend’ was injured, but Artemis didn’t wait for it to reach him, he charged at it as well, sliding underneath while taking his dagger out, cutting the stomach of the griever wide open, sprawling its insides on the ground. 

He got up, watching the monstrosity roar in agony, before falling to the ground, unmoving. But perhaps as good measure, Artemis walked to its head, stabbing the dagger in it before taking it out.

Artemis turned on the other griever, that had regained its strength back and was ready to attack Artemis again.

He waited for it to fully approach him this time, and that’s exactly what it did, and the teen stood still, his eyes darkening even more, covering the white and blue completely, leaving complete soulless eyes.

“Przyjdź do mnie*.”

-

Minho was running around the maze. Trying to find Artemis desperately.

He couldn’t be dead, he had to be alive. He made him promise he’d protect Newt. He couldn’t leave him. If that were to happen...Newt would….

No, none of this thoughts right now. He kept on running, ignoring the images his mind provided him with of when he would find Artemis.  _ How  _ he would find him.

He almost face planted on the ground when he rounded the corner, holding himself up against the wall before he slipped, his eyes widening as he stared at the scene in front of him.

“I better be shucking dreaming…” He whispered, still in shock at what he was witnessing right before his eyes.

There he stood in all his damned glory, Artemis, his back turned to him. Right in between two grievers that were laying at his feet.  _ Dead _ .

All their insides sprawled on the ground, making him feel sick in the pit of his stomach, trying not to gag or pass out.

Artemis turned to face him. His cold blue eyes staring at him. A frown on his lips as he glared at the runner. Or was he? His eyes were completely black, so there was no telling where exactly he was looking at.

“Artemis…?” He carefully approached him, his gaze shifting between the monsters and the boy.

“Nie zbliżaj się*.” Minho stopped in his tracks. His eyes widening even more if it was possible. Did Artemis…. _ speak _ in another language? What the shuck?

“Jest ich więcej*!.” He had no idea what that meant. But it sounded like a warning. But Minho, against his better judgement, approached him anyway.

“Artemis...I don’t understand...what are you-” He had no time to finish, when Artemis turned his whole body to face him, and screamed.

“Nie ośmielaj się go dotknąć*!” The shout made the Asian flinch, trying to protect himself with his arms as Artemis charged at him.

But he didn’t attack him. He jumped over him, taking out his dagger as he did so. Landing on top of another griever’s head that had been silently creeping up on Minho. Stabbing it in the head and retreating the dagger,  letting the creature drop to the ground. And just like the other two. It  _ died _ .

Minho stood speechless, staring at Artemis in shock.

What the actual shucking shuck just happened?

-WCKD Facility-

Ava smiled at the screen. Her blue eyes watching Artemis carefully. Seeing him kill those three grievers easily made her proud.

Janson and Teresa stood beside her. Staring in awe at the recordings.

“He did it…” The girl muttered under her breath, amazed at what she had witnessed.

“Yes...he did.” Janson added, a tiny smile on his lips a he flickered his gaze at Ava.

The woman gripped her hand tightly against her chest, a small silver chain dangling from between her fingers. A necklace.

“Nasz mały żołnierz, czyż nie jest on*?” She gripped the collar tighter, sighing sadly.

-

“Artemis…?” The Asian was still on the floor, staring at the boy in wonder.

He knew Artemis was no ordinary greenie. He had proved that before. But this? This was a whole new level. 

Newt had told him about what happened with Ben, how Artemis had overthrown the runner easily and all that, but now that he has seen it with his own eyes...he was shocked to the core.

Artemis paid no mind whatsoever to him, seathing his dagger back on his belt before he started walking forward.

“Artemis! hey!” Minho tried to call out to him. Getting on his feet and trying to follow after his friend. “Artemis stop! What the hell is wrong with you? Hey! Come back-” He gasped mid-sentence, skidding when he saw a griever blocking his way.

“Shuck!” He screamed, catching a glimpse of Artemis retreating form headed deeper into the maze, with three beetle blades chasing after him.

He ran until the griever didn’t chase him anymore. trying to camouflage himself with the ivy as he regained his breath. Still not believing what had happened.

But most importantly.

What happened to Artemis? How did he kill those grievers like nothing? 

And why did he go towards….

“Artemis...who exactly are you?” He asked, hoping to find some answers. But there were none. And he was left to fend for himself for the few hours until the doors opened.

He didn’t see Artemis again all night.

-

Morning came slow. Too slow for the Gladers to be honest. The whole group of boys waiting at the doors anxiously.

Newt and Thomas were at the front row, watching attentively as the doors opened, revealing an empty corridor. No sight of Minho, Alby or even Artemis.

_ No please...not you Arti...don’t do this to me... _

He prayed for Artemis to round the corner. To smile at him while he ran his way. To hug him, or kiss him,  _ anything _ . But he didn’t. Artemis was nowhere in sight. And Newt’s heart broke, his eyes shining with unshed tears.

_ Arti…? _

“They didn’t make it. I knew it.” Gally was the first to break the silence. And Newt didn’t have the strength to slap him again at the moment. Too caught up in letting reality sink in that Artemis was gone. And Alby and Minho as well.

It wasn’t fair. Now that he finally had him here. The Creators took him away. Was it really just a game for them? Did they love torturing kids like this? Break them?

Because they succeeded, Newt was officially broken.

And not only him, Thomas was also breaking inside. The boy he cared for the most was gone, along with two of his friends. How was he supposed to move on? He hadn’t even confessed to Minho. Afraid that it would destroy the friendship they had.

But now? Thomas wished he had done differently. That he at least could have kissed him one time. Even if the other slapped him or didn’t talk to him anymore, it would have been better than this agony.

“There!” Chuck’s sudden shout snapped them out of their daydream. All eyes turning to stare at the maze’s corridor. Only this time, it wasn’t empty.

Minho was at the end, half carrying a still unconscious Alby, groaning as he tried to get to the Glade.

Once they stepped in, Minho was hugged by Thomas tightly, once he wasn’t carrying Alby anymore.

“Minho! Are you okay? What happened? Are you hurt? Are you-” Thomas’ rambling was cut short, when the keeper pressed a quick but tired kiss to his lips.

The jaws of the boys dropped to the floor, even the medjacks who were tending to Alby were frozen.

“I...uhh…”Thomas was speechless, blinking his eyes once, twice, even three times before red covered his face, still staring at Minho incredulously.

“You talk too much Tom...ease down a bit will ya?” Minho sighed, he was relieved to come back, but so very tired.

“Minho?” They turned their attention on Newt, who was trying to hold back his tears. He was happy Minho and Alby were safe...but he didn’t see Artemis with them, and it made him panic a bit inside.

“W-where’s Artemis?” The gravity of the situation dawned on them, as they turned to stare at Minho questioningly.

“He’s-”

“Here…” A voice came from behind the keeper, startling everyone while Newt’s eyes widened, a small tear falling down.

“Artemis!” He ran to him, embracing him, his head resting on the other’s chest. He looked up, his brown eyes staring into sky blue. “Y-your okay...right? Arti?”

But Artemis didn’t respond, he simply fell limp in the arms of the second in command, who panicked when he saw his boyfriend unmoving. 

“Artemis!”

  
  


-WCKD Facility-

“The second test has concluded. Project status; stable. Vital readings are normal. Subject is unconscious.” A medic concluded, staring at Ava as he read the test data.

The room stood silent, waiting for their leader’s conclusion of the results.

Ava kept her gaze on the screens, she never left Artemis’s form. Her heart was divided. On one half, she was proud, he always looked after his friends, just like him. But her other part felt sad, longing.

This first trial was being a success. And it scared her. She knew the closer they got, the more that meant...

She just hoped it wasn’t real. She had lost too much already.

She couldn’t lose  _ him _ .

“Keep watch over him. Let me know if he wakes up.” With that she left the room, nodding at Janson to control the situation.

She walked the endless halls, searching for the one person she needed.

“Teresa?” The girl in question turned to face the woman. Taking her gaze away from the window that showed many medics and nurses tending to their patients.

“How did it go?” Teresa asked, concern laced in her voice. She had been there to see Artemis kill those three grievers and protect Minho, but she had to leave the room, the scenes too gruesome for her liking.

“It went well. All his readings were normal.. He took down five more. Sometimes it scares me that he gets in this types of situations. I wish he was still here, that way I could keep watch over him.” The girl held the blonde woman’s hands in her own, squeezing reassuringly. 

“Do you think it’s time?”

“I do. As much as it might worry me. I know he can do it.”

 

**Mój dzielny mały żołnierzyk*. Wybacz mi*.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Polish language (Forgive any mistakes or misspelling, please!)  
> -Nie czyńcie mi tego teraz Bóg - God don’t do this to me now.  
> -Zatrzymanie! - Stop!  
> -Przyjdź do mnie. - Come at me.  
> -Nie zbliżaj się. - Do not come closer.  
> -Jest ich więcej. - There are more coming!  
> -Nie ośmielaj się go dotknąć - Don’t you dare touch him!  
> -Nasz mały żołnierz, czyż nie jest on? - Our little soldier, isn’t he?  
> -Mój dzielny mały żołnierzyk. Wybacz mi. - My brave little soldier. Forgive me.
> 
> -Ziphonix2001


	11. Important note!

This is really important regarding the next chapter that will be posted tomorrow. There is something I wish you could help me with.

So, I can't reveal the plot of the next part of the story, but this is something very important to it.

So from these designs I have created with an online creator, I want you guys to tell me which one do you like the most, and then, the one that you have chosen will apear on the next chapter. How? Can't tell, but it will be something truly important to the rest of the story.

Here are the links:

**Logo N.1**

[ http://nailek.net/gw2/renderemblem.php?s=256&e=eyJmb3JlZ3JvdW5kIjp7ImNvbG9ycyI6WyIxMTIiLCI2NzMiXSwiaWQiOiIyMTkifSwiYmFja2dyb3VuZCI6eyJjb2xvcnMiOlsiNTg0Il0sImlkIjoiMjIifSwiZmxhZ3MiOltdfQ== ](http://nailek.net/gw2/renderemblem.php?s=256&e=eyJmb3JlZ3JvdW5kIjp7ImNvbG9ycyI6WyIxMTIiLCI2NzMiXSwiaWQiOiIyMTkifSwiYmFja2dyb3VuZCI6eyJjb2xvcnMiOlsiNTg0Il0sImlkIjoiMjIifSwiZmxhZ3MiOltdfQ==)

 

**Logo N.2**

**[http://nailek.net/gw2/renderemblem.php?s=256 &e=eyJmb3JlZ3JvdW5kIjp7ImNvbG9ycyI6WyI2NzMiLCIxMTIiXSwiaWQiOiIyMiJ9LCJiYWNrZ3JvdW5kIjp7ImNvbG9ycyI6WyI0NzMiXSwiaWQiOiIyNCJ9LCJmbGFncyI6W119](http://nailek.net/gw2/renderemblem.php?s=256&e=eyJmb3JlZ3JvdW5kIjp7ImNvbG9ycyI6WyI2NzMiLCIxMTIiXSwiaWQiOiIyMiJ9LCJiYWNrZ3JvdW5kIjp7ImNvbG9ycyI6WyI0NzMiXSwiaWQiOiIyNCJ9LCJmbGFncyI6W119) **

 

**Logo N.3**

**[http://nailek.net/gw2/renderemblem.php?s=256 &e=eyJmb3JlZ3JvdW5kIjp7ImNvbG9ycyI6WyIzNDkiLCIyNyJdLCJpZCI6IjExOCJ9LCJiYWNrZ3JvdW5kIjp7ImNvbG9ycyI6WyI0NzMiXSwiaWQiOiIyMiJ9LCJmbGFncyI6WyJGbGlwQmFja2dyb3VuZEhvcml6b250YWwiXX0=](http://nailek.net/gw2/renderemblem.php?s=256&e=eyJmb3JlZ3JvdW5kIjp7ImNvbG9ycyI6WyIzNDkiLCIyNyJdLCJpZCI6IjExOCJ9LCJiYWNrZ3JvdW5kIjp7ImNvbG9ycyI6WyI0NzMiXSwiaWQiOiIyMiJ9LCJmbGFncyI6WyJGbGlwQmFja2dyb3VuZEhvcml6b250YWwiXX0=) **

 

**Logo N.4**

[ http://nailek.net/gw2/renderemblem.php?s=256&e=eyJmb3JlZ3JvdW5kIjp7ImNvbG9ycyI6WyI2NzMiLCIxMTIiXSwiaWQiOiIyMyJ9LCJiYWNrZ3JvdW5kIjp7ImNvbG9ycyI6WyI1ODQiXSwiaWQiOiIyNCJ9LCJmbGFncyI6W119 ](http://nailek.net/gw2/renderemblem.php?s=256&e=eyJmb3JlZ3JvdW5kIjp7ImNvbG9ycyI6WyI2NzMiLCIxMTIiXSwiaWQiOiIyMyJ9LCJiYWNrZ3JvdW5kIjp7ImNvbG9ycyI6WyI1ODQiXSwiaWQiOiIyNCJ9LCJmbGFncyI6W119)

 

**Logo N.5**

**[http://nailek.net/gw2/renderemblem.php?s=256 &e=eyJmb3JlZ3JvdW5kIjp7ImNvbG9ycyI6WyI0NzMiLCIyNyJdLCJpZCI6IjE0MSJ9LCJiYWNrZ3JvdW5kIjp7ImNvbG9ycyI6WyI1ODQiXSwiaWQiOiIyIn0sImZsYWdzIjpbXX0=](http://nailek.net/gw2/renderemblem.php?s=256&e=eyJmb3JlZ3JvdW5kIjp7ImNvbG9ycyI6WyI0NzMiLCIyNyJdLCJpZCI6IjE0MSJ9LCJiYWNrZ3JvdW5kIjp7ImNvbG9ycyI6WyI1ODQiXSwiaWQiOiIyIn0sImZsYWdzIjpbXX0=) **

 

I'd truly appreciate if you could help me with this, it would mean a lot. I tried deciding which one would be most fitting and all but...they are all so amazing that I can't decide!

So I'd thank you so much if you'd help.

\- Ziphonix2001

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The website used is Netlik.net, but you can search for emblem creator and it'll appear. Just in case someone wanted to know.  
> -Ziphonix2001


	12. Chapter 10: I’ll stand by you

The homestead was an absolute chaos. Keepers and even some others talking left and right with raised voices. At least, until Newt decided to put some order to the situation.

“Okay, enough. Settle down please.” At the authoritative voice of their second in command, the boys went silent, sitting down to listen what their now ‘leader’ was about to say.

“Alright. Sorry to call some of you up so suddenly.” Newt could feel all eyes on him, some were staring at him with a tiny hint of concern, but he ignored them. 

He knew exactly the reason why they stared at him like that. When Artemis came through the doors and passed out in his arms, he refused to leave him out of sight, but since Gally, the slinthead he is demanded a meeting, he had to attend, as the surrogate leader of the Glade. 

Thankfully, Thomas had decided to stay by Artemis’ side, to keep an eye on him as they found out he was not stung, and he would tell Newt immediately if he woke up. 

“Since someone wanted to have a meeting so fast.” He momentarily glared at Gally, who only pursed his lips in straight line, trying to refrain himself from snapping back on Newt. “As you all are aware of, Alby is...unavailable to attend this council for a reason we all know and that I will not explain.” A gloomy demeanor could be felt among the keepers, knowing very well what had happened to their leader.

“So I will be the one in charge here. Understood?” At the nods of the Gladers and Gally’s reluctantly,  he continued. “Good that. Now, concerning the matter at hands...Minho, if you may.” At the signal to speak, the Asian stood up, drawing attention to himself.

“From where do you want me to start?” He was at a loss of words, he knew he had to explain what happened exactly yesterday, but from where to start?

“How about what happened to you and Alby while tracing Ben’s route?” At Frypan’ suggestion, Minho nodded in agreement, before glancing back at Newt, who gave the same silent answer.

“Well, when Alby and I left to map Ben’s route….”

-

_ We had been running for 4 hours straight, apparently Ben had taken so many turns that we had to go back so much. Maybe he saw something or whatever, but it was shucking confusing. _

_ In the end, we managed to find ourselves in Section 7. _

-

“Wait. Section 7?” A runner asked surprised, the boys turning at him for a moment before settling back on Minho. “Isn’t Section 7 supposed to be closed until next week or something? Why was it open?”

“No idea. But it was open. But aside from that…”

-

_ After a while of looking around, we felt as if someone was watching us. And when we looked back, we found at least three shucking beetle blades were following us. I don’t know if they’ve been there all the time, but I didn’t like it. _

_ We decided to ignore them and keep tracing Ben’s footsteps, when we came across something unexpected and shucking creepy. _

-

“What was it?” A Glader decided to ask, and Minho took a deep breath. The memory still vivid in his mind.

“A dead griever.” Gasps filled the room, with equally surprised faces.

“What the shuck?!”

“Dead?! How?!”

“Did Ben kill it?!”

“Quiet down!” Once again, Newt stepped in to calm the situation, seizing the voices of the boys. “Go ahead, Minho.”

“Okay. When we saw the griever, we were shocked. We had no idea what happened to it…”

-

_ We came closer to it, but still kept cautious, we weren’t entirely sure if what we were seeing was real or not. _

_ After we spent a couple of minutes examining it,  we concluded it was dead, so Alby came even closer to see if it had any wounds or anything that could give us some kind of clue as to what happened to it. _

_ Then everything happened so fast. _

_ Alby had accidentally kicked it with his foot, and the shucking thing just jumped, and trapped Alby in its disgusting claws. _

_ I was so shocked at te fast movement that I couldn’t help Alby fast enough, and the griever stung him, twice. _

_ Then it turned on its tail and ran, not even bothering to look back at me, or even attack me. And left me with a stung and unconscious Alby to try to get back at the Glade. _

-

“It left? Why? It didn’t attack you?” Winston asked surprised. After all, grievers never spared anyone, if they saw you, you would be a goner.

“Yeah. I have no shucking idea to why it didn’t. But I guess it was something the Creators had planned.” He really believed the Creators were the ones behind Alby’s condition at the moment. After all, the only ones who would love to see them suffer like this were them.

“You really think the Creators are behind this?” Newt didn’t like this. Why would the Creators only sting Alby and not Minho too? What could possibly be their…

_ Maybe...they...No, that’s not possible. That mustn’t be it. Right? _

“Yeah, I really think so. After all, they had been following us the whole time. They knew we would find the griever sooner or later. So my conclusion is final, it was the Creators. I mean, who else?” The boys faces worn angry expressions, their hatred for the Creators only growing. 

“The Greenie maybe?” Gally’s voice piped in, and many rolled their eyes. Of course the builder would want to put the blame on Artemis. He really hated him didn’t he?

“Could you stop putting the blame on Artemis for a second Gally? Seriously man, it’s not his fault.” As always, Frypan tried to calm his friend down, but the keeper firmly believed Artemis was the one behind all of what has been happening.

“Oh please, everything has started changing the moment he showed up.” Gally stood up, his gaze stuck mostly on Newt, who was clearly getting annoyed and might I add a bit protective of his unconscious boyfriend, while Gally kept trying to put the blame on him.

“Gally, don’t start.” The second in command was fighting to not snap at the keeper, but he couldn’t help it. Artemis was not to blame, he knew it. He would not allow anyone to talk bad about the person he cared for the most in this cursed place. “Minho, tell us about the night in the maze before I actually lose it.”

Minho agreed, he was also starting to lose his patience, Artemis had become a good friend of his, and he would stand by his side.

“Good that. After Artemis ran into the maze to help me and Alby…”

-

_ I had already lost hope of returning in the morning, no one had survived a night in the maze. But Artemis didn’t give up, he gave me a shucking good speech to lift me up. _

-

“He is a really tough shuck, guess he didn’t want to leave you.” Minho smiled faintly at Newt, who’s heart swelled a little. Artemis fought so hard to go back to Newt’s side, and it proved just how much he meant to the other.

_ Arti… _

“After that, we helped keep Alby safe…”

-

_ Even if I told him that we couldn’t do anything for him, he still wanted to help him. So we cut some ivy and hanged him from one of the walls and covered him, to make sure that grievers didn’t see him. _

_ After that, we split up, I thought that we would have a better chance of surviving if we went separate ways. _

_ I guess everything was going fine until… _

_ I heard a griever roar and a scream, and thought of the worst. _

-

The blonde’s breath hitched unnoticeably, he knew about that, he heard it. That scream that he was sure could not belong to anyone other than his Artemis. His heart seemed as if it was about to burst.

He could only imagine the situation, see Artemis cornered by one of those big green monstrous…

_ No. He’s fine, he’s back and he’s not hurt. Relax Newt. _

He decided to keep listening, and put those dark thoughts in the back. Though nothing could prepare him for what his friend was about to tell them all.

“I went to search for him. I didn’t believe they got him, but…” The Asian took a deep breath, recalling that scene as if was happening right in front of him at that very moment. “...when I got there, I found Artemis standing there, he wasn’t hurt or anything. But he wasn’t alone.” 

Anxiousness and nervous excitement could be felt in the room. No one knew what Minho was about to say next, but judging from the serious and slightly disturbed expression on the runner, it couldn’t be good.

After all, Minho was a tough shuck that didn’t get easily scared, so seeing him so strangely uncomfortable was unsettling.

“There were two grievers, lying dead at his feet.” As soon as the words left his mouth, the atmosphere changed drastically. Everyone’s blood ran cold in their veins.

“Was it b-because of the Creators? A-another trick from them?” Zart asked, his voice a bit shaky. That must have been a very disturbing sight.

Minho shook his head negatively, before glancing at Newt for a quick second. As if asking for permission to tell what he was going to say next.

Newt felt conflicted, he wanted to know what happened last night, but he also didn’t, hearing how Artemis had two grievers dead at his feet was enough scary as it was. Even then…

“Go ahead.” At the green light, the Asian gave a nod, before focusing back on the awaiting Gladers.

“As I was saying, it wasn’t anything made up by the Creators, those grievers were really dead. Cut wide open with their shucking limbs all over the place.” A shiver crawled up their spine, just imagining the gruesome image was enough for some boys to feel sick in their stomach.

“What the shuck happened to them?” The question made them all turn to face Zart momentarily, before settling back on Minho, waiting for an explanation.

“Don’t know, but I know who attacked them.” The Asian knew exactly who did it, as he saw it happen. “It was Artemis.”

A round of gasps clouded the room, the boys having no idea what to make of the new information.

“Artemis? Are you sure? Maybe he just got there on accident.” Winston tried to reason. It was very unlikely that Artemis could take down a griever, let alone two on his own! What crazy stuff was Minho talking about?

“No, I’m sure it was him. Because he killed another one by himself right in front of me.” The keepers mouths were hanging open, Gally being no exception, even Newt was speechless. Artemis took down three grievers all alone? What the shuck?

“He did?” Newt knew Minho would never lie to him, but this was absolutely crazy! No one had taken down a griever, not even trying hard! The many people they lost because of that is proof enough.

“Yeah. I swear. I didn’t even see it coming up behind me, but Artemis did, he just talked some strange gibberish and jumped at it, stabbing it with his dagger.” The room was silent, every boy trying to process everything.

“Wait, you said Artemis was talking gibberish? The shuck you talking about?” Confusion replaced their thoughtful expressions, what did Minho mean by that?

“What I’m saying, is that Artemis spoke something else than English, slint heads.” Another language? What? But as far as they knew, Artemis spoke English only, right? 

“What was it?” They had some boys that could speak other languages, that was true, but mostly English. Maybe Artemis was...bilingual? Was that the word? Well, so much for their amnesiac fucked minds.

“No idea, but it was weird. Also, Artemis didn’t look like himself, at all.” Newt had no idea what to think of all of this. He did know about Artemis speaking another language, both because of his memories and what Artemis had said to him before entering the maze. Aside from that…

“What do you mean he wasn’t acting like himself?” This was a bit worrying, was he saying Artemis acted like a stung person? But when they checked him over at the medjack’s hut he was perfectly fine! Not a single scratch or bruise!

“You know when you told me he stopped Ben from hurting you? How he didn’t let anyone near?” Newt nodded slowly, not sure expecting what was going to happen. “Well, he was just like that. His eyes were practically black all over, and he spoke that language again, then killed the griever, just like that. Then he left me there, didn’t even spare me a second glance, he just went straight to Section 7, and when I tried to follow him, a griever cut me off and I was forced to run the other way, after that I didn’t see him at all.” That explained why Minho had appeared in the Glade alone with Alby. Artemis was way back on Section 7 and was making his way back, but how? 

“What I don’t understand is, if Artemis hadn’t been in the maze before, how did he manage to come back? I mean, it’s a long way from Section 7 right?” Frypan asked, he was confused as to how Artemis had managed to guide himself so well in such a place as the maze.

“See what I’m telling you? It’s him. He is working for the Creators! Why can’t you see that?” Again, Gally was being a klunk head, and Newt had lost his patience.

“Gally, enough. Go back to you post, you are not going to stay in this meeting any longer.” The blonde was so done, he honestly had hoped that the slap he gave the builder was enough, but it appears that it only made him even more stupid.

Before Gally could protest, a strange sound came from the outside, and the Gladers recognized it immediately.

“I thought the box wasn’t supposed to come with supplies until tomorrow!” They skipped outside, running towards the middle of the Glade, where effectively, the box was coming up.

As Minho and Newt opened the top, they were met with a very strange sight.

Inside the metal box was a crate, a large wooden crate with a strange symbol imprinted on it in black and blue.

It was a circle, and it had the drawing of a mountain with a half moon inside of it. They had never seen anything like that before.

“What the shuck is that?” 

No one knew the answer.

-

_ Artemis opened his eyes only to see a void of darkness all around him. _

_ He was floating in the air, but the moment he tried to breathe, he choked. This, whatever this was, was not air, but water. And if he didn’t get out of it, he would drown. _

_ He swam as fast as he could upwards,  holding his breath as much as he could. Just a little bit more. He could make it! _

_ He saw a light getting brighter, and he put all of his effort into reaching it. That had to be the exit for sure.  _

_ His mind started playing tricks on him, or so he thought. There was a very strange drawing that he kept seeing, blocking his vision every few seconds. _

_ As  if it wasn’t enough, just as his fingers touched the bright glow, he heard an all too familiar voice. _

**I hope you like my gift, Artemis.**

-

He gasped, standing up on the bed he laid on, before getting into a coughing fit, his lungs filling with air.

“Artemis! You’re awake!” He barely registered Thomas’ voice, his gaze unfocused as he regained full consciousness.

“W-wha...Thomas?” He asked weakly, his senses were all over the place, he felt dizzy and disoriented. What the fuck happened?

“Yeah, it’s me. It’s okay, you’re safe.” The runner touched his shoulder softly, helping him get to a more comfortable sitting position. “How are you feeling?”

“Like a freaking truck went over me three times.” His voice was slightly rough, his throat itching a bit. “But I’ll live, I guess.”

“Here, take this. It’ll help.” He gave the male a glass filled with water, and Artemis greedily drank it down, it felt as if he hadn’t had any water for a month.

“Thanks Thomas.” He thanked the brunette, making the runner smile, patting his back, until he stood up suddenly, heading for the door.

“Where are you going?” He asked confused, was he going to leave him like this?

“Don’t worry, I’m just gonna tell Newt you’re awake, he’s been pretty worried about you. Wouldn’t leave your side for a minute.” Thomas clarified. and Artemis felt his heart beat faster at the thought of Newt.

“What are you doing?” Thomas asked once he saw Artemis getting up from the bed.

“I’m going to see Newt.” He spoke firmly. He wanted to see him, needed to. It almost felt like an eternity since he saw his blonde haired boyfriend.

He passed by another bed, seeing Alby laying on it, his heart tightening in his chest.

As much as Thomas knew he shouldn’t let Artemis leave the bed yet, he understood why Artemis wanted to see Newt. So he allowed him to follow him out of the hut.

Right as they stepped out, a loud sound made them flinch, turning to the center of the Glade. Seeing all the keepers running towards the box as well.

Artemis’ heart skipped a beat, he could clearly see Newt among the group, helping Minho open the cover, and before Thomas could possibly stop him, he sprinted off in his direction.

“Artemis wait!” At Thomas’ shout, the group turned to him, including Newt, who’s eyes widened when he saw who was running up to him.

Artemis slowed down, Thomas catching up to him.

“Arti...” Newt ran up to him, hugging him, Artemis reciprocating the action. He felt like himself again just by having him close.

“You alright? Nothing hurts?” Newt asked concerned, he already knew Artemis was fine, but he wanted to make sure.

“Yeah, don’t worry. I’m fine.” He tried to hold back on kissing him, so he settled on a kiss on the other’s forehead.

“Sorry to break the sweet moment, but we need to get this crate out.” Minho smirked, and Artemis rolled his eyes in fake annoyance.

With the help of Artemis, Minho, Gally, Frypan and a few other boys, they managed to get the crate out, the strange symbol drawn on it much more visible.

As soon as his blue eyes landed on the drawing, they widened. That was...it couldn’t be…

He could faintly hear Ava’s voice telling him she hoped he liked the gift. Was this the gift? A box?

“What the shuck is this?” The boys were truly confused. What the hell was this box? Why had it been sent up? And most importantly, what was that strange thing on it?

Many questions swarmed their minds, especially Artemis’.

He crouched down next to it, his fingertips tracing the outlines of the drawing. It felt very familiar, he had definitely seen it somewhere, not only in his strange dream, but somewhere else.

He decided to open it, wanting to see what was the supposed ‘gift’ Ava wanted to give him.

He, as well as the others were, not prepared to see the contents of the crate, covered in some kind of plastic to protect them.

Along with a small note, big black capital letters written on it.

Artemis has to become a runner.

Everyone turned to Artemis questioningly, but he had no idea what to say, so he simply grabbed the note, giving it to Newt who stood beside him, worriedly helping him uncover the plastic.

All eyes widened, wrapped in those layers of plastic was a chest harness, similar to the ones the runners had, only made of a slightly softer material, though it seemed resistant. It had a smaller version of the same strange logo on the crate.

Next to it were some clothes, a shirt with the same small drawing, with lines of blue. And pants with similar blue lines as its pattern. Artemis felt the fabric, it was soft and looked to be really comfortable. Next to that, there were a pair of fingerless gloves made of leather, each with the same design. Gosh, they really liked to put that on everything didn’t they?

But that wasn’t everything, there was another plastic, and thanks to Minho and Frypan, they uncovered it, revealing a black solid bow, with an arrow holder right next to it, with at least 20 arrows.

“Holy shuck. Now that’s an arsenal!” No one had no idea what to answer to that. Still shocked to see all of that, occasionally turning to Artemis.

“Still think I'm overreacting?” They ignored Gally’s voice, focusing on the crate, staring at the contents in wonder.

“Arti? Do you know what all of this is?” Newt asked softly, bringing his partner out of whatever trance he got into.

“No...I…” He had no idea what to say, this was all so confusing

_ W...what am I supposed to do with this? _

**Use it.**

Ava. There she was again. But didn’t she tell him before that he should wait for the moment where he could run the maze? Not like he didn’t do it last night but…

Or maybe...maybe this was the moment Ava had talked about.

Though the question still remained, why would she send him those clothes? And why a bow and arrows? Wouldn’t it make much more sense to give him something much more fitting? Like a sword for example! And what was that small button on the side? What the fuck?

He hadn’t touched a bow in his life before...has he?

And those arrows...they seemed normal but that silver tip was so sharp, enough to cut deep through anything. 

By now, the whole Glade had gathered at the box, not knowing what was going on.

“Okay, why don’t we take this back to the homestead? This is serious.” The keepers agreed, covering the crate again and taking it to the homestead, everyone following, including Newt and Artemis with Thomas and Minho.

“What are the Creators playing at?” The boys didn’t like it. Surely the Creators were messing with them. And they were getting tired, especially Artemis, who couldn’t help but wonder what was Ava planning.

_ Ava...what are you planning? _

He received no answer, so he tried with the girl, but the same thing happened. Just what the fuck were those two planning? And what about the others?

After they settled down, Newt stayed right beside Artemis, silently giving him support, along with the two runners, Frypan and Winston. Then Zart, Jeff and Gally sat down on the stairs. The other boys were told to go do their jobs, even Thomas, but he stayed, refusing to leave his friends but promising to stay quiet.

“Okay, first of-” Newt began, only to be rudely cut off by a certain keeper who wouldn’t shut up even underneath the water.

“Why are we still letting him stay? Is everyone seriously not going to give him punishment? He has broken I don’t know how many rules and we will let him strut around like nothing?” Heavy sighs were heard in the room, can’t Gally take a break? Seriously.

“Will you shut up and let Newt speak?” Artemis glared at the keeper, while the latter glared right back at him, tension filling the air.

“You don’t have any authority here Artemis. You have to stay quiet until we finish.” Artemis so wanted to punch him, but Newt grabbed his arm before he moved, pulling him back.

“He’s right Arti, you have to wait.” It hurt Newt to put Artemis in the back, thankfully, Artemis  understood and backed down, making Gally smirk triumphantly, though it didn’t last long. “As for you Gally, I told you before, quit that attitude or you’re out of the meeting.”

That made him scowl, glaring at Artemis, who let the tiniest of smiles appear.

“Alright, let’s go back to what we were talking about before.” Newt made a small summary of the previous conversation, just to let Artemis what had been happening while he was resting.

“Okay, so we know what happened from Minho’s point of view. Artemis?” They turned to the blue eyed male, as the second in command allowed him to explain his side.

“Well, I can’t remember much. Just helping Minho keep Alby safe, then trying to outrun grievers until I found myself cornered by two of them.” He explained, but when they asked him what happened after…

“I...have no idea. I mean, I remember screaming out of frustration, I felt hopeless.” He glanced at Newt, giving a smile to his worried stare. “Then I blacked out, I couldn’t feel nothing anymore.”

“Nothing at all?” Jeff asked kind of surprised, from Minho’s point, Artemis was ‘conscious’, awake. How could he be passed out and take down grievers without remembering?

“Nothing. That’s all I remember. Well, and getting to the Glade but that’s it.” It was true, he found himself near the entrance by daylight, but he had no idea how he got there.

“Whatever state you were in, you took down those two grievers coming at you.” Artemis’ eyes widened, he had no idea he did that. Taking down those grievers? What in the actual fuck?

“I did? I-I..I don’t remember it.” How did he take down those things? He was just a teenage boy against two big monsters! He had no chance, right?

“You did. And you also took down another one, when it was about to attack me, so thanks for that.” Minho was truly grateful, even if Artemis had no idea how he did it, he saved his life.

“You almost died?” Though Thomas had promised to stay silent, the moment he heard Minho had been about to be killed almost gave him a heart attack.

“Relax Tom, I’m fine.” The keeper’s genuine smile calmed him, and Thomas decided to sit down again. Trying to take the image of finding Minho’s body if something had happened to him in the night on his mind.

_ Okay, he’s safe Thomas, he’s safe. He’s with you. _

That was the little mantra the brunette kept replaying in his head, also focusing on the memory forever encrusted in his mind about the kiss the keeper gave him, hoping it would settle him down.

“So, that aside. You don’t remember anything else?” At Newt’s question, he shook his head. As much as he tried to remember he couldn’t. It was like the amnesia thing all over again, and it made him groan in annoyance.

“By the way, Artemis. There’s one question.” At that, all attention was brought on Minho again. “When I found you, aside from acting weird and taking those grievers out, you spoke another language.”

“Another...language?” Artemis was surprised, he knew he could speak in other languages, but he tried to conceal that, not sure how they would react to that, but now…

“I did? Oh…” The way he trailed off made them nervous. What the hell was Artemis hiding from them.

“Arti? You know about that?” The way Newt asked that question softly made him nod, he couldn’t keep secrets from Newt, or anyone else from that matter.

“Yeah. I do know how to speak in other languages.” Well, that was surprising. And weird.

“Really?” Newt couldn’t believe it. “Can you…?” At Newt’s half finished question, Artemis decided to prove his ‘ability’? Was that it?

“Zobacz? Potrafię mówić w innych językach*.” Mouths hang open the moment those words left him, and he chuckled at their bewildered expressions, fully amused.

“Great, that’s probably how you communicate with the Creators right? That way we won’t have any idea what you’re telling them.” The glares returned to Gally, but Artemis decided to mess with him, he had had enough of Gally telling him he was the bad guy.

_ Time for some motherfucking payback, asshole. _

“Du bist eine echte Nervensäge, weißt du? Du kannst nicht mal für eine Minute die Klappe halten, oder? Oder sind deine Gehirnzellen zu dumm dafür*?” None of them had any clue as to what Artemis just said, but the way he smirked mockingly at the builder gave them a somewhat clear thought that whatever he said, was not nice. “Need to repeat myself, dickhead?”

“You little-”

“Okay, okay. Enough. You’ll kill each other later, let’s focus back okay?” Thanks to the cook for intervening, or else this would have escalated more than it already had.

“Alright. With the night in the maze out of the way finally. We need to talk about the supplies that have come up just a few minutes ago.” Newt wished to change the subject, but Gally wasn’t done.

“It’s not over Newt, Artemis has still broken one of our rules. He needs to be punished, you know that.” The blonde sighed, he didn’t want to put Artemis in the slammer, but it was true, as much as he didn’t want it to. Thank god Artemis saw the predicament he was in.

“Newt.” He turned to face him, their eyes meeting intensely. “As much as I don’t like giving the reason to asshole over here, he’s right. I broke a rule, and I promised I  would try not to. So say a punishment, I will take it.” Newt was touched by Artemis honesty and willingness to stand for a punishment, it was another trait he was admiring of him.

“Alright...it is true you broke a rule and you should be punished. So...you’ll have one night in the pit with no food.” At the low punishment all eyes widened, and Gally shook in anger.

“Oh come on Newt. One night? He ran into the maze! And he’s probably going to do it again! You saw that note! He has to! And you’ll only put him one night without food?” Everyone was getting tired of Gally, and as much as Frypan tried to calm him, it was impossible.

“That’s my decision, not yours Gally. I am the second in command and now I make the punishments, so shut up.” Newt was not going to allow the builder to talk about Artemis that way anymore. “And I already know what the bloody note said.” He turned to Minho, sharing a small silent conversation before the Asian nodded, agreeing to whatever they had silently talked about.

“Artemis?” At his name being called, Artemis stood straight, waiting for whatever Newt was about to tell him. “From now on, you won’t be in the gardens.” Artemis’ heart broke momentarily, he hoped this didn’t mean what he thought it did. Was he… “You’ll be in the maze, with Minho and Thomas. You’ll be a runner.” As Newt finished his decision, Gally shook his head in disbelief.

“Wow…” The keeper couldn’t believe it, shaking his head while walking towards the door.

“Gally-”

“No Fry.”

And just like that, he left, followed by a worried Frypan.

“Newt…” Artemis could see Newt wasn’t happy about his choice, and Artemis wasn’t either. He did want to explore the maze, see what it had. But...now that he could finally do it in all its glory...he wasn’t sure, he didn’t want to leave Newt.

The second in command only sighed sadly, before heading to the door without any more words, only for Artemis to chase after him.

Thomas wanted to go after them as well, but Minho held him back, shaking his head.

Others like Jeff an Zart decided to go back to their posts, knowing Artemis and Newt needed some time alone, besides, someone needed to keep an eye out on things.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> German and Polish languages: (Forgive misspelling or mistakes)  
> See? I can speak in other languages. - Zobacz? Potrafię mówić w innych językach.  
> You are a real pain in the ass, you know? Can't shut up for just a minute can you? Or are your brain cells too stupid for that? - Du bist eine echte Nervensäge, weißt du? Du kannst nicht mal für eine Minute die Klappe halten, oder? Oder sind deine Gehirnzellen zu dumm dafür?
> 
> Also, the final logo chosen for the chapter, the link is also on the note I made before.
> 
> This is the clothing and other things that had been sent for Artemis, just in case you wanted some detail.  
> Links:  
> https://www.comfortcompany.com/images/product_images/stayflex_main.jpg 
> 
> https://static1.squarespace.com/static/51b3dc8ee4b051b96ceb10de/t/552d9abde4b0652256a02cc8/1429052102440/ (Change red to blue)
> 
> https://www.dhresource.com/0x0s/f2-albu-g7-M00-EF-F5-rBVaSVsweD2AWebRAADBSqqvyjE112.jpg/black-blue-men-039-s-sport-soccer-football.jpg 
> 
> https://www.claires.com/dw/image/v2/BBTK_PRD/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-master-catalog/default/dw17c0b991/images/hi-res/12476_1.jpg?sw=734&sh=734&sm=fit 
> 
> https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1UBeVKVXXXXbBXVXXq6xXFXXXV/Marvel-s-The-Avengers-Hawkeye-Cosplay-Prop-Clint-Barton-Bow-and-Arrow-Full-Version.jpg_640x640.jpg (Yes, these are Hawkeye's weapons from the Avengers, my mind is a crazy fucked up thing okay? Excuse my over imagination. And you'll understand.)
> 
> I have something to tell you, if you have read all of the tags, there is a mention of smut somewhere, guess what that means? No? Yes? Not spoiling anything but there is going to be good stuff, like reaaaaaaaalllllyyyyy good. Just saying.  
> \- Ziphonix2001


	13. Chapter 11: In the name of love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have updated the chapter, this time, there is smut, thanks to a friend of mine who has helped me with it.  
> It's probably not going to be great, but I did what I could, I hope you like it.  
> There are some warnings; mainly unprotected intercourse and underage relationship, I'll put it in the tags later.

After Newt had left the meeting, trying hard not to look back and retract of his decision, he ran, or tried to run to the deadheads, wanting to be left alone.

Though his plan was unable to be completed, since Artemis chased after him, refusing to leave him like that. And Newt didn’t have the strength to push him away.

Artemis had no idea what to do to make the second in command feel better. He knew Newt didn’t want to let him be in the maze, he almost lost him because of that. But he had to, the note said he had to, and as much as he wanted to stay with Newt, he couldn’t.

He had to explore the maze, he had to be a runner and find an exit. For Newt, and for all the others. They had to get out.

But how could he tell Newt that he wasn’t going to leave him? How could he tell him without words that he would always find a way to come back to him?

_How can I show you how much you mean to me without any words?_

His mind came up with a solution, taking a hold of Newt’s hand as he started walking deeper into the forest, all while being watched curiously by Newt, who wondered what he was up to.

Artemis didn’t say anything, neither did Newt. Both walking in silence until they got to their destination.

The blonde’s eyes widened as he realized the place he was in. The tree in which Artemis hid when he came to the Glade, and Newt found him the morning after.

But why would Artemis bring him there? What was he up to?

As many questions he had, he didn’t voice them. He trusted Artemis, and knew whatever he was doing was for him. It warmed his heart that Artemis was doing anything he could to make him feel better.

They sat down on the grass, both facing each other while being in silence.

“You know I’ll be careful right?” He asked after minutes of being in silence, his gaze never wavering away. He wanted Newt to know he wasn’t going to leave him any time soon.

“I know you will. It’s just…” Newt knew Artemis could take care of himself. He had taken down three grievers all by himself! But still...That didn’t ease any of his worries.

“Newt, do you trust me?” Of course he did trust him, he was the only guy aside from Minho and Thomas that he trusted entirely. So there was no hesitation in his answer.

“I do.” Artemis surged forward, capturing Newt's soft lips with his own. It was slow and full of feelings.

Both trying to demonstrate the other they were there and weren't leaving anytime soon.

At some point in that make out session, Newt found himself with his back pressed against the ground, with Artemis’ bigger form towering over his slightly smaller frame.

The blonde's hands were gripping Artemis light brown hair, while their kisses gradually became more heated.

They pulled away when the need for air became too much, but Artemis was not done yet. His attention shifted to the exposed flesh of Newt's neck, and with a lick of his lips, he dived in, slowly but surely tracing patterns with his tongue across the pale skin.

The second in command gasped, gripping Artemis’ hair tighter, not that Artemis minded much, as his throat was assaulted with kisses and gentle loving bites.

He couldn't contain a moan when Artemis bit on a certain spot, a blush spreading on his cheeks at the sound that came out of him. The blue eyed male pulled away, thinking that he had hurt Newt.

Though his concern went away when he saw the red face of Newt, his brown orbs looking away in shame. That sound wasn't because he hurt him, but because he pleasured him. And it made Artemis grow hot under the collar.

“S-sorry…” His voice was low, but it made Artemis smile in adoration, shaking his head.

“For what?”He had nothing to apologize for, that moan he made had gone straight to Artemis’ heart, and possibly his ‘lower parts’, since it felt heavenly.

“Can I?” He wanted to hear Newt, wanted to keep touching him, but if the blonde didn't want to, he would wait. The last thing he wanted was to harm him.

Newt was someone in his life he would protect from everyone, even from himself.

“Yeah...just, be gentle?” Artemis nodded at the request, he would take things slow, besides, they had all the time in the world, since he knew the Gladers would be too focused on their jobs to look for them.

“I will, I promise.” At the approving nod, Artemis came down to kiss him again, his tongue asking for entrance, slipping inside once it was granted.

Pulling away, he once again focused on the other's neck, kissing, licking, sucking and biting until he found a special spot.

Another moan escaped the blonde, but this time, Artemis did not pull away, instead, he bit down on it, not too hard, but enough to leave a mark that would surely be visible. Newt was overwhelmed by the sensations, he felt safe, and loved, such feelings he believed he would never be able to feel in a place like the Glade.

The best part, was that the one making him feel that way was the person he thought he would never see again. For three years, he had dreams about Artemis, small fragments of memories that left him broken inside.

But now he was here, and he wasn't leaving, it made Newt happy he was alive. A sob made Artemis pause, turning to stare at Newt's face, his brown orbs shining as tears rolled down his cheeks.

“Newt? Are you okay? Am I hurting you?” Artemis started panicking, had he done something wrong? He was fine a few seconds ago, so what happened?

“I-I'm fine…I'm just happy you're with me.” The second in command answered truthfully, the words went straight to Artemis' heart, the love he had for this boy kept on growing at each second passing. “I love you and I trust you.”

“I love you too Newt. I'm not going anywhere.” Kissing again, Artemis tugged at the ends of Newt's hoodie, silently asking if he could take it off, and with a bashful nod from the blonde, both helped take off the piece of clothing, along with the leather strap and no sleeve orange shirt beneath.

The accented boy suddenly became self conscious, he had always felt a bit insecure about his body, and showing himself to someone else made him shy. He tried to cover himself with his arms, but Artemis was faster, grabbing his wrists to prevent him from shielding himself.

"Don't. You're beautiful, don't hide from me. I love all of you." It was true, Newt might think he isn't deserving of such heartfelt names, but Artemis was being honest.

Their hands roamed their bodies, Artemis was being careful as to not use too much strength, fearing that if he used just the tiniest bit, he could break the boy.

He descended his hand lower, passsing by the belt holding Newt's pants, heading to his thighs.

"Arti…" The way his nickname was said in such a needy tone, had electricity going straight to his lower parts.

Artemis returned his hands to the other's belt, breaking away from the kiss he was having with Newt.

"May I?" He feared that maybe he was going too far, that it might be too much.

"Yes…" Well, Artemis could easily say he had died and gone to heaven. As cheesy as it might sound, he felt so calm and happy having these feelings with Newt.

He helped him take off his pants along with his underwear. And to make Newt feel more comfortable, Artemis took his jeans off as well.

Newt bit his lower lip once he caught sight of Artemis' 'friend', which was, to be honest quite big.

_How will it fit inside of me?_ Newt thought, his mind providing very explicit images that he tried to conceal.

A kiss on his forehead made him turn to Artemis, who muttered an 'I'll be careful, I promise' to him, and Newt trusted he would do so.

Their discarded clothing now served as a rug, to prevent them from getting hurt of the hard ground beneath them.

Newt was now sitting on Artemis' lap, both kissing furiously as passion build up inside of them.

They simultaneously released a small gasp, when their fingertips lightly touched their members.

If there was one thing that had definetly not erased from their minds, was that they knew what it took to be able to connect as one.

But they didn't want to stop, they wanted to do this, be able to feel the other on a different level.

Artemis stroked Newt slowly, growling everytime Newt moaned at his touch, while he touched him as well.

Newt felt his stomach tighten, while Artemis kept caressing him, he whispered how much he cared for Newt, and it filled the blonde with happiness he couldn't express with anything other than moans.

Artemis felt closer too, just being able to feel Newt like that, so close to him after who knows how long they spent apart because of the Creators.

But it didn't matter, they couldn't keep them away from each other, not now, or ever. Not if Artemis could stop it.

Without knowing, he sped up his pace, making the blonde let out uncontrollable groans and moans. Artemis wasn't any better, he kept muttering curses under his breath.

"A-Arti…I-I'm gonna…"

"I-I know. Me too...Fuck."

Their cries were muffled by their lips, both coming on their hands as they parted, a faint string connecting them.

"…You okay?"

"Yeah…I am."

Pressing their foreheads together, they regained their breaths, still on the far end of their high.

Newt gasped, when he felt Artemis fingers covered in his come trace the outline of his entrance.

"Arti..." He wasn't scared, but this was probably the first time he did something like this. He knew he had been with Artemis before, but he was pretty sure they had not gone as far as this.

"Shh, I'll be careful. Just tell me if it's too much and I'll stop." With an approving nod, Artemis pressed one of his fingers against the entrance, trying to be as gentle as possible.

"Bloody hell..." Newt whined in discomfort, it felt...strange, but it also good. Maybe because this was Artemis, the guy he loved before and loved now. 

"You okay? You need me to stop?" Artemis felt himself start to panic, was he hurting him?

"No, don't stop...just...ugh..." 

"Try to relax...I got you..." 

Artemis kissed Newt's sweet spot on his neck, tracing the mark he had left earlier to distract Newt. It seemed to do the trick, especially when he grabbed the other's member, stroking it slowly.

Since it was still overly sensitive, it made it easier for Newt to concentrate on the pleasure than in the discomfort and pain.

Feeling Newt much more calm, he let another finger slip in, and without knowing pressed them as far as he could to make the preparation quicker and painless.

But it only made the blonde release a fairly high pitched moan, when Artemis' fingers brushed lightly on something deep inside him.

"D-do that a-again..." Artemis obeyed, not before slipping a third finger to brush the three of them against that spot.

Newt could feel himself coming closer to a second release, but Artemis pulled away right before he coukd reach it.

"W-why did you s-stop?" The second in command asked, wanting to know the reason his pleasure was stopped.

"As much as I would love to see you coming again, I want you to do it when I'm inside of you." Artemis smirked, the color returning to Newt's face at the words.

They lowered on their rug made of clothing, Newt once again on his back as Artemis stood above him.

With a deep breath, Artemis guided himself to stand right in front of Newt's entrance, giving a quick kiss to the blonde's forehead to ease his nerves.

"…Ready?"

"Yes…"

Newt had to admit it hurt, being streched open like that felt like being cut through.

He let tears fall, his hands on Artemis' back, nails digging in his skin, but the marks quickly healed, not that he took notice of it.

Artemis smiled sadly at the pained expression his boyfriend wore, and decided to ease his tension by making the same trick as before.

He stopped halfway, letting Newt adjust to the intrusion, stroking his member to calm him while muttering encouraging and loving words in his ear.

They spent minutes like that, Artemis refusing to move until Newt felt comfortable enough.

His caresses helped, as Newt willed himself to relax, allowing Artemis to press himself deeper, hitting his special spot.

All pain went away, the gentle thrusting against his prostate was enough for Newt to forget about the pain, and focus on the pleasure.

"Arti..." Artemis understood, speeding up his pace, thank heaven for his incredible speed at the moment. Newt didn't mind, he was far too gone in the sensations to care.

Though as much as pleasure coursed through them, blinding them, their eyes remained locked on each other.

They didn't know for how long they went at it, just feeling each other with such intimacy and care was heaven and hell at the same time.

Sadly, this kind of emotions have to end, the knots in their stomachs getting stronger.

It became too much, with Newt giving one last kiss to Artemis, muffling his shout.

Artemis was not going to last long either, the way Newt's insides tightened around him made him groan, giving one last thrust before releasing inside of him.

They were left breathless, panting as they tried to come back to their senses. It had been so intense they were still out of it.

Both shuddered when Artemis pulled out slowly, a tiny spark of pleasure coursing through them but they were far too spent to feel it.

"You okay? Did I hurt you too much?"

"No. It felt so good."

They started getting sleepy, and as much as Artemis wanted to sleep, he knew they shouldn't, at least not naked and in the middle of the woods.

"Newt, we have to get dressed." Newt merely grumbled in response, snuggling on Artemis naked chest.

"Nooo..." His muffled voice made the blue eyed male smile, but he still tried to convince Newt.

"If we get dressed now, we'll sleep on the hammock for a bit, okay?" Newt stayed silent, but sighed in defeat knowing Artemis would convince him one way or another. Besides, the idea of sleeping in a comfortable hammock wasn't so bad.

Artemis stood up, dressing himself again while Newt still tried to get up.

"You alright?" Artemis asked worriedly, seeing Newt wince and groan while trying to get up and dress himself.

"Yeah, it's just...After all that, I don't think I can walk." 

"So it felt good?"

"Better than good."

-

After they tried to erase as much evidence as they could of what they did, they had gone to the hammocks to get some well deserved rest.

Waking up once they heard Frypan's shout announcing dinner was ready.

Artemis rememebered the punishment he was given, and he sighed, letting go of Newt's hand tugging him towards the kitchens.

"What's wrong?" Newt was confused, that is, until his mind also reminded him of what he said on the meeting earlier that morning.

"I better go." Artemis wanted nothing more than to stay with Newt that night, but he didn't want to break any more rules.

"Arti, wait. At least let me take you there." The older male nodded, following Newt towards the slammer.

He crawled inside one of those cages, not before pressing a small kiss on Newt's lips.

"I'll come get you out of here tomorrow morning. Minho and Tommy will come too, since you're gonna be a runner." Newt didn't want to leave him, the thought of spending the night alone felt weird.

Artemis didn't want to be there either, but he promised he would face any punishment he was given, and he would stand true to his promise.

A quick thought came to him, glancing at his belt, seeing the dagger sheath with the handle of the small weapon peeking out.

He took it off, giving it to Newt who stared in wonder at the weapon.

"Keep it, I won't use it here anyways." 

"Love you." 

"Love you too."

As Newt left, he kept glancing back towards him, holding the covered dagger close to him.

They didn't get much sleep that night, both feeling empty without the presence of the other, but the subtle reminder that both of them were 'one', was enough to make themmeeting fall asleep with a smile on their lips.

-WCKD's Facility-

"Well, Artemis is officially a runner at last." Janson mused, staring at the screens showing the boy.

"Yes, he is. It also means we are closer to the end of the first trial." Ava sighed, sadness taking over her as she knew that the peace Artemis was experiencing at the moment was not going to last.

"Does that mean that I am going soon?" Teresa asked from beside her, frowning as she knew what that would mean.

"Unfortunately, yes. We just have to wait for the right time."

"Soon?"

 

"Very soon."

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please forgive me if the smut part was bad, this was the first time I wrote something like this, so please be kind.  
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the updated chapter, much better than the one I posted before.  
> Don't you just hate when inspiration leaves your brain? I hate that.  
> -Ziphonix2001


	14. Chapter 12: Maps and mazes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this came a bit late, but I wanted it to be as amazing and action filled as I could.  
> One thing that I want to tell you, is that maybe you'll have a chapter on thursday along with another on saturday, or sunday. Thanks to a bit of holidays.  
> Anyways, hope you like this chapter! 
> 
> -Ziphonix2001

_ When Artemis opened his eyes, he expected to find himself in one of the cages of the slammer. To his surprise, and slight annoyance, he was in an infinite white room he had seen before. _

_ “Great...I'm here again. Fucking fantastic.” He tried to catch a glimpse of Ava, see if she was around, but there was no one. _

_ “Hello? Ava?” His voice echoed in the empty space, unfortunately, no one answered. “Why the fuck am I here if there is no one?” _

_ He started walking around, trying to find something that could tell him why he was here. _

_ “I hate these fucking dreams...they're so weird.” If only he had slept with Newt, perhaps this strange dream would not have happened. _

_ “Arti?” Someone gasped his name from behind him, the voice all too familiar made him spin around, seeing Newt a couple of feet away, staring at him with wide eyes. _

_ “Newt…” He didn't care if this was a dream, seeing Newt there with him made his feet move on their own. Running towards him at full speed. _

_ Just as he was about to touch him, Newt went right through him, as if he wasn’t there at all. _

_ “What the-” Turning back to Newt, he saw him still running towards someone who looked awfully familiar. _

_ “Is...that me?” His eyes widened, staring in shock at Newt hugging him. _

_ It was then he realized that both that Newt and himself were slightly younger, which meant… _

_ “This is a memory…” He smiled sadly when he realized it, still staring at the memory playing in front of him as ‘he’ and Newt hugged each other while laughing. _

_ “Indeed it is.” He almost jumped out of his skin when the sudden voice of a woman spoke. _

_ “Ava?” He saw the woman approach him, stopping to stand beside him while she turned her gaze to the memory. _

_ “You and Newt were very close, he understood you better than anyone else, and you completed him as well.” Artemis let a smile slip as he thought about what Ava was saying. _

_ “You thought you had everybody fooled.” The knowing smile on her lips widened when she saw Artemis’ confused expression. “But you couldn't fool me.” _

_ “What do you mean?” What the hell was Ava blabbering about? _

_ “You loved him, since the first moment you met him. And those feelings only kept growing, no matter how many times you tried to deny them.” So she was talking about how he met Newt for the first time? If only he could remember it… _

_ “H-hi, my name's Newt. And y-yours?” He perked up hearing Newt's voice, turning to stare at the memory that had now changed. _

_ The environment as well, the infinite white room had been replaced by something that oddly reminded him of a train, from the way it moved side to side slightly, that is, if his memory of a train was correct. _

_ “A-Artemis.” With his younger self saying his name, the memory went away, the room changing back to the original place. _

_ “There’s one thing that I don’t understand.” He asked suddenly, making Ava turn to face him in surprise. _

_ “What is it?” She was curious as to why Artemis seemed a bit cautious on asking her whatever he wanted, making her worry a bit. _

_ “Why did you send that box? And why send me clothes and a bow?” He asked, hoping that he would get some kind of answer as to why those things have been sent to him. _

_ Ava smiled, which made Artemis a bit worried, had he said something funny? Was it amusing to her? _

_ “You’ll know.” Again, evading questions. He was never going to get answers was he? _

_ “Sure I will…” He sighed in resignation, annoyance clear on his face. _

_ “There is something else that I must tell you.” Ava’s tone turned serious, her smile fading into a straight line which unsettled Artemis greatly. _

_ “W...what is it?” He was worried now, what was going on? Did something happen? _

_ “I am afraid, that I will not be able to help you anymore. You’ll be on your own.” That ‘information’ hit him hard, what the hell did she mean by that? How come she wouldn’t be with him anymore? Even if he knew she was part of the Creators, he had come to trust her more than he cared to admit. Basically because she was one of the supposed ‘bad guys’. _

_ “W-why?” He was already used to hearing her voice in his mind from time to time, so knowing that now he wouldn’t hear her anymore made him slightly lonely. _

_ “I am afraid I cannot tell you.” She answered with a frown, only making Artemis huff angrily, looking away. _

_ “Of course you fucking can’t. Creator bullshit right?” He could hear her sigh heavily, before he felt a warm hand on his shoulder, turning to stare at Ava’s blue eyes, which now that he took notice thoroughly, they looked awfully similar to…..no, probably a coincidence. _

_ “Artemis, please try to understand. This has to happen.” She now faced him, holding his hands in her’s, making him feel weirdly safe. “Besides, this will not be the last time we see each other.” _

_ That caught him off guard, did that mean- _

_ “I will meet you?” The smile returned on her face, nodding to confirm that they would indeed meet again. “When?” _

_ “Somewhere in the future, but I can assure everything will turn out alright.” His mind was divided, he wanted to meet her so much, but he also didn’t want to, mainly because she was one of the people that put him in the maze, and he shouldn’t trust her but, for some reason, he couldn’t. _

_ “Alright, fine.” Guess he’d have to wait. So much for wanting answers. _

_ “I must warn you as well, that things will change, and you need to be prepared.” Great, more crazy stuff! Just what he needs. _

_ “Ugh...why me of all people?” Why was he so important? Couldn’t anything happen to anyone else? Or was he just a magnet for trouble like Gally said? _

_ “You’ll understand, for now, focus on the maze.” With that, Ava walked to him, stopping right in front of him. “Artemis?” _

_ “Yeah?” He was caught off guard when Ava hugged him, eyes widening while she held him close. “Ava?” _

_ He was confused, what was she doing? What was happening? _

_ “Jestem z Pana bardzo dumny*.” She pulled away, giving one last smile o Artemis, who was still shocked over what happened. “Take care of Newt, and remember… _

 

_...WCKD is good.” _

-

His ears picked the distinct sound of footsteps approaching, opening his eyes only to see the light of a torch coming closer.

The flame illuminated the face of the figure, revealing no one other than Gally, glaring at him with a frown.

_ Oh god...not now. Please not right now. _

“What do you want now?” He seriously didn’t need this, he had enough trouble falling asleep, he didn’t need Gally’s rants about how he was bad and blah blah blah.

“Don’t think that I don’t know who you are. I know you’ll be the one to kill us all, I just know it.” Seriously, can’t this guy ever get tired? I mean, 99% of what he did was mainly pick on him. Didn’t he have enough work or what?

“Look Gally. Don’t wanna hurt your feelings. But this is getting pretty old.” If he wasn’t in that cage, he would’ve probably punched him, just to shut him up.

“Whatever. I am watching you. So be careful, Newt won’t be there to save you all the time.” Then he left, leaving Artemis to glare at his retreating form.

“The nerve of that guy…” He sighed, leaning his head against the wooden bars of the cage.

His gaze gazed above him, staring at the moon in longing. His mind drifting towards Newt before he could stop it. He replayed the memory he saw in his dream, the moment he had met Newt.

He tried to fall asleep again, but it proved to be useless, so in the end, he settled by watching the Glade at night.

After what felt like an eternity, the dark sky slowly turned brighter, the first sun rays creeping from behind the walls of the maze.

He stretched, trying to get rid of the sleep lingering on his eyes, he just hoped he wouldn’t fall asleep while in the maze. 

He was in the middle of a yawn when footsteps were heard coming again.

Much to Artemis’ relief, it was Newt, Artemis’ dagger sheath on his belt.

“Hey, how’d you sleep?” It hadn’t been that long but he had missed Newt’s voice, it felt so weird sleeping alone, he just hoped he wouldn’t have to spend another night like this. But knowing how trouble found him one way or another, he knew this wouldn’t be the last time.

“I would say good, but it would be a lie.” Both chuckled, as Newt opened the cage, allowing Artemis to get out, only to press their lips together.

He chuckled, seeing the surprised expression of Newt with a faint blush once he pulled away.

“W-what was that f-for?” Not that he didn’t like it, but it was so sudden he didn’t have time to process it.

“I’m just happy to see you. And good morning.” The second in command rolled his eyes playfully, before grabbing Artemis’ hand, tugging him somewhere. “Where are we going?”

“Before we meet up with Tommy and Minho in the homestead, I want to show you something.” Without further explanation, Artemis followed after Newt silently, still holding his hand. He wondered what he wanted to show him.

They went around the homestead, stopping in front of the wall next to the building.

His eyes widened when he saw multiple names carved on the wall, seeing Newt’s, Thomas’ and Minho’s among them, along with Chuck’s and others.

“Here.” Newt let go of his hand, taking off the belt that held Artemis’ dagger, giving it back to him. 

He took the small bade, taking it out of its sheath, looking at Newt for guidance.

“You’re one of us. Might as well make it official. Even if its a little bit late.” He nodded, walking to stand right in front of the grey wall, seeing a tiny space right next to Newt’s name.

Since his dagger seemed to be made by a resistant material, he had no problems in carving his name on the concrete.

Newt watched all the while with a tiny smile, seeing the place Artemis had carved his name was right next to his.

After finishing, Artemis pulled away, putting the dagger back on its place.

His gaze shifted, when he noticed Ben’s name crossed, making him frown, releasing a sigh.

Newt stood next to him, holding his hand again, giving a reassuring squeeze.

“It’s not your fault. You know that right?” He knew deep inside he was not to blame, but his conscience didn’t allow him to forgive himself fully.

“I know…” He then turned his gaze to Alby’s name, knowing his name would also be crossed soon. He then turned to other names, of boys he had no idea who were but were also crossed. 

For a moment, his cruel mind showed him the very same wall, only with Newt’s name crossed as well. He shook his head, turning to Newt, who stared at the wall in sadness.

Feeling a stare on him, Newt turned to face him.

He leaned down to press a kiss to the blonde’s forehead, glancing subtly at their names. 

“Promise me you’ll always come back to me.”

With a determined look in his eyes, he nodded.

“I promise you.”

-

They had been sitting in the homestead for a few minutes, waiting for Thomas and Minho to come in.

To pass the time, they kept looking inside the crate that had come up in the box for Artemis, examining the objects.

Artemis couldn’t help but stare at the bow, his fingers tracing his name carved on the material.

“Do you think you’ll know how to use it?” Newt asked, staring at the weapon in wonder.

“Guess I’ll find out.” He was probably going to encounter a griever in the maze, because, why else would they give him a weapon? To decorate?

“What should we do about these clothes?” He glanced at the neatly placed garments, along with the chest harness and gloves. “Are you going to-What the bloody hell are you doing?”

Newt asked confused, as Artemis took off his shirt, grabbing the black and blue no sleeve shirt.

“What? I might as well put it to good use.” Still, Newt held a bewildered expression on his face, only making Artemis snort in amusement. “Oh come on Newt, you’ve seen me shirtless before haven’t you?”

His slightly suggestive tone made Newt blush, looking away only to grab a leather glove, throwing it to Artemis, who caught it easily, chuckling.

“Shut up, you bloody idiot...” 

Artemis finished dressing himself in the new clothes, to his surprise, they were much comfier than the ones he wore.

All that was left to put on, were the gloves and the chest harness. 

Newt helped him, tying the harness behind his back to secure it, all while Artemis finished putting his gloves on.

“I probably look like a clown, don’t I?” He asked in annoyance, only for it to disappear when Newt came to face him again, shaking his head.

“No you don’t. You look handsome.” This must have been the first time Artemis actually blushed, because he could feel the heat rushing to his face, this time, Newt was the one to smile in amusement. “Now look who’s blushing because of a compliment.”

Artemis stuck his tongue out at him, only making Newt laugh out loud.

He also grabbed the bow and arrows, carrying them on his back, might as well carry them close in case he needed them.

The sound of a door opening behind them made them pause, turning to the entrance to see Minho and Thomas step inside.

“Ready so early Artemis?” Artemis nodded, following both runners out of the door, Newt close behind.

He was slightly confused when instead of heading to the already opening doors of the maze, they went towards the deadheads.

“Where are we going?” Still walking behind the two boys.

“Now that you’re a runner, you might need some help with the maze.” That was all Minho said, before guiding the small group to a wooden building, hidden behind the trees and vegetation.

Artemis recognized it immediately, it was the map room, the place where runners supposedly drew the maps. He hadn’t been there before.

Minho opened the door, stepping inside as the rest followed. Since Newt was second in command, he was allowed in as well. That and he had previous experiences with that place.

Artemis watched curiously the makeshift ‘map’ of the maze, admiring the work and effort there’s been to it. It was an exact replica of what he guessed was the maze in its entirety.

_ Holy shit...it’s huge. How the hell did I manage to find myself back in the Glade without any help? _

If only he had asked Ava...he shook his head, there was no time for this. Ava was gone now, she wouldn’t be there to help him, he had to do this alone.

He scanned the scale model, seeing the various sections there were, but his eyes stayed focused on Section 7 the most. That was the place Minho said he had gone to the night they had been stuck.

He could see the large distance between the section and the Glade. And he kept wondering how he found his way back.

Aside from staring at section 7, he also went to the 5th, there was something that made him want to see that place...something that filled him with great sadness, for an unknown reason.

“Getting familiar with it?” The keeper asked, seeing Artemis so intrigued and focused on the model.

“Yeah...it’s just...it’s such a big fucking place. I still don’t know how I managed to find myself back to the Glade from section 7…” He knew he wasn’t the only one questioning that fact. Minho also wondered how he did it, along with Thomas and newt.

“Are you going to carry those with you?” Minho asked, pointing at the bow and arrow holder on Artemis’ back. “Know how to use it?”

“Don’t know.” It was the only answer he could give him, thankfully, it seemed enough to sate Minho’s curiousness.

“I know what we’ll do.” Thomas said, all eyes turning to him. “We’ll explore section 7. Besides, that’s near the place you killed those two grievers. Maybe we can find something interesting?”

For a moment, Artemis wondered if Minho would turn down Thomas suggestion, since he was the keeper, he figured he would be the one to make the last decision. To his surprise though, the keeper accepted.

“I think it is a good idea, Tom.” Both shared a glance, which Artemis found oddly suspicious, noticing how close they were to each other. He turned to Newt, silently questioning the runners behaviour.

The second in command smiled, pointing to himself, then at Artemis, and lastly to the runners, hoping his boyfriend would catch the hint.

It worked, Artemis eyes widened for a fraction of second, now understanding their close proximity and the slightly affectionate calling.

“So now me and Newt aren’t the only couple, huh?” He could see the color rushing to both their faces, with Minho coughing to cover up his embarrassment, and Thomas focusing on the maps, making Artemis and Newt laugh.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Let’s just get going.” The keeper practically ran out the door, followed by a blushing Thomas.

“How did it happen?” Artemis decided to ask. He knew it had to happen a short while ago, because Minho hadn’t told him he confessed to Thomas, only hinted he was crushing on the brown haired boy, nothing else.

“After your night in the maze, Minho came alone dragging Alby with him. When he entered the Glade, Tommy was worried about him and started ranting. And to shut him up, Minho kissed him.” Newt explained, and Artemis nodded in understanding, chuckling as he imagined the scene. “Come on, we should go.”

They walked out, heading to the maze doors seeing Thomas and Minho waiting for them.

“Okay, everything ready?” Artemis nodded, watching as Thomas and Minho ran into the maze. But before he followed after them, he turned to Newt one last time.

“I’ll see you later, just don’t get stuck again, okay?” Newt didn’t want him to go, but knew he had to. He just hoped Artemis wouldn’t encounter a griever, or get stuck again.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back before you know it.” He pressed one last kiss to Newt’s lips, before running after Minho and Thomas, leaving the blonde to watch him go.

-

It was a long way to Section 7, so once in a while, they took a small break, even if Artemis didn’t need them.

“How can you last so long? Don’t you get tired?” Thomas asked, regaining his breath while Minho drank water. “I mean, we have been running for an hour or so and you’re still fine.”

“Yeah well...I got a...good night’s rest?” He had no idea what to tell them, even he was confused about his stamina and speed. 

“Let’s keep moving, I want to take a look at those grievers before the Creators decide to take them away.” At Minho’s order, they were on the move again.

There was something that Artemis had noticed before, on some corners, there were plaques slightly rusty.

He walked towards one, brushing away the dust and dirt with his thumb.

The two runners noticed him standing still, slowing to a stop next to him.

Artemis paid no mind to them, focusing on the inscription carved on the metal.

_ World In Catastrophe Killzone Department...where have I heard that before?  _

His mind wandered back to his last dream with Ava, how she had told him WCKD was good...was that it? WCKD as in World In Catastrophe Killzone Department?

“Artemis? You okay?” Thomas’ voice from behind snapped him out of his thoughts, turning to face him.

“Yeah...yeah it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it. Let’s just keep going.” Both runners nodded slowly, sharing a confused glance before sprinting off, leaving Artemis to stare at the plaque one last time.

_ Ava… _

He shook off those thoughts, running after Thomas and Minho.

-

“Holy mother of shuck…” Those words flew out of Thomas’ mouth when he saw the scene before him.

Turns out Minho was right, there were two grievers dead with their limbs all over the place, and something black that could possibly be blood tainting the concrete floor. 

He had never doubted what Minho had told him but...a picture is truly better than a thousand words. Even if it was a very horrific and disgusting sight.

“I hope they’re dead.” Minho and Artemis nodded, after all, there was no way something could still be alive with their entire body open.

Artemis squat down next to one of the things, his blue eyes scanning the mechanical body.

It was then he noticed a very small red light coming from inside the body, and he wasted no time in putting his hand inside, reaching for whatever was making that light.

“Artemis! What the shuck are you doing?!” Minho’s shout didn’t faze him, but he knew it was a very gross sight, even Thomas couldn't help but gag when Artemis retreated his hand, covered in goo.

“Oh god, that is disgusting…” Still, Artemis didn’t give up, still trying to grab the red light. 

His hand went round something robust, and he took out his hand fully, dragging whatever it was with him with a bit of strength.

For a moment, he feared maybe he grabbed a limb, to his relief, and probably Thomas’ and Minho’s, it was  large cylindrical object.

He stood up, examining the artefact in his hands, the two runners coming to stand beside him, looking at the object curiously.

“What is this?” Artemis had no idea, but it felt important. He moved the artefact, seeing the words WCKD imprinted on black as well. Along with a bright red 7.

“What does that 7 mean?” Both Minho and Thomas were so focused on the object they didn’t hear soft whirring sounds coming up from behind them, Artemis on the other hand, did.

He pushed Thomas and Minho to the ground, taking his bow fast and readying an arrow. The runners eyes widened, watching as Artemis’ eyes changed, covering in black almost completely, leaving a faint circle of blue visible.

It was also then, when they noticed what Artemis was aiming for, a griever. Lowering from the top of a wall to the ground, roaring at Artemis before charging to him.

It was then Artemis released his hold on the string holding the arrow, letting it fly fast towards the head of the griever, piercing through its ‘skull’ and sending it to the floor.

His fingers brushed lightly on the small button on the lower side of the bow, and he pressed it, hearing a beeping sound as the tip of the arrow shone with a flickering blue light, before a small explosion sent griever limbs all over the place.

Thomas and Minho cowered, ducking to the ground to protect themselves of the flying mechanical objects from the grievers body, along with a few of its insides.

All that was left of the griever were metal parts on fire, the insides quickly being reduced to ashes.

Artemis shook his head, regaining consciousness as he took in what he had just done.

He glanced down at the bow, then at the griever, the arrows...and finally to the two runners on the ground, mouths open in shock.

He smiled nervously, shifting between the sprawled parts of the griever and the runners.

 

“Uhm...I guess I can use a bow and arrow.”

 

-WCKD Facility-

"He still knows how to use it. I thought that because his memories were erased, he wouldn't know how to use it anymore." Janson commented, replaying the tape of Artemis killing the griever again.

"Well, he spent most of his time training with it, ever since he was very young." Ava answered with a smile, a feeling of pride surging within her. "What is Netw's state? Any changes?"

"No, not yet. Guess we'll have to wait a bit more to know if it worked."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Polish language:  
> Jestem z Pana bardzo dumny. - I am very proud of you.
> 
> Hope you liked this chapter! Things are going to change very soon.  
> And there might be surprises!
> 
> -Ziphonix2001


	15. Serious note.

Hey guys, I know I promised two chapters this week, but unfortunately, I will not be able to do them.

I'm afraid, that my family and I had to take our dog to the vet, and they said he is not on good shape.

I've had this dog for 11 years, and knowing that I might have to sacrifice it breaks my heart.

I am terribly sorry if you don't see any chapters for a bit, please be patient.

Thank you.

-Ziphonix2001


	16. Last note (Hopefully)

Okay, one thing that I want to tell you guys, is that you will have a chapter, at least one.

Seems like my dog made it! I went to the vet, expecting the worst. And then, they tell me, "Your dog is a fighter! He made it even if it was unlikely he would survive the night!" That made me so proud! I love my dog, it would break my heart to lose him, thankfully, he won't be leaving my side yet!

Alright, now knowing my dog is fine, I feel renewed! It's amazing how much a pet means to someone! He is like part of the family!

Anyway, I'll try to post the new chapter tomorrow, okay? Thank you!

-Ziphonix2001


	17. Chapter 13: Maps and mazes part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is short, but since I have been taking care of my dog I haven't had much time to focus on the story. Anyways, I promise the next will be longer! Action and tension are rising up! Things are gonna get interesting!  
> -Ziphonix2001

“...Could’ve warned us before doing that don’t you think?” Minho said, after the shock had worn off, standing up with a bit of help from Artemis, who then went to help Thomas.

“How the fuck was I supposed to know it was going to do that?.” He argued back, glaring at Minho momentarily.

“Okay, okay. Easy there.” Thomas interjected, easing the tension between them. “No fighting right now, okay?”

Both older males simultaneously released a sigh, muttering an apology. Artemis grabbed the strange artefact again, which had been sent to the floor when he pushed the two runners down. Thankfully, it wasn’t scratched or broken.

He then turned to the griever parts, no longer on fire. He was amazed at what those arrows could do, even if they were only used one time, but oh well.

He turned to the object in his hands again, staring at the red number in curiosity, while Thomas and Minho kept staring at the remains of the once griever.

_ What the fuck does this seven mean? Why…? _

His mind suddenly became overwhelmed by fast flashing images, but only one stuck out the most, some kind of open space with a giant door pretty similar to the one that connected the Glade and the maze, along with a faded giant red on one of the walls.

“We’re closer to section 7 aren’t we?” His sudden question brought the two runners attention on him, leaving the griever parts alone.

“Yeah, it’s only a couple of minutes away. Why?” Artemis didn’t answer, he simply turned to the corridor they were going before the griever blocked them off, his feet already pointing and heading that direction. 

Both boys followed after him, once again on their way to the aforementioned section, Artemis letting them take the lead.

Blue eyes widened when he saw the very same place he had seen previously standing in front of him, with the ‘doors’ open.

“That’s weird…” Minho muttered, making  Artemis turn to him, confused.

“Why? What’s wrong?” He asked, watching as the runners met gazes, before turning to him.

“Section 7 isn’t supposed to be open, in like...a week at least.” Well, that was weird indeed. 

“But it was open before too right? You and Alby saw it.” Minho nodded, still shocked to see the section open. It should have been closed for a long time, at least after the next week was over.

“I don’t like this one bit.” That was something they could all agree on. It was definitely a very abnormal occurrence and it was no wonder who was behind it. But why would they do this? What is their plan now? Was this what Ava was talking about when she said things were gonna get crazier?

They shrugged it off for now,  deciding to focus on looking around the open section.

They couldn’t help but gasp when they saw at least three more griever parts on a pile, black blood covering the ground and a bit of the tall bronze colored ‘blades’.

“Holy shuck...Did you kill those too?” Artemis had no idea what to answer that. Maybe he did? Minho did say he went to section 7 on his own, so maybe he did kill those, but holy shit, this was getting terrifying, even for him. How the hell could he do that? It was one thing to kill one, two perhaps, but kill five or six? This was very very creepy.

“I don’t know...but I don’t think I want to.” If he was being honest with himself, he didn’t want to remember anything and just go back to Newt. This was messing with his mind at impossible levels, he was sure he would end up crazy or even heavily traumatised.

Just then, a beep came from the artefact still in his hands, making his attention turn to it, with some kind of low beeps still coming out of it.

“What the shuck is it doing?” They had no idea, but as Artemis took a small step forwards, the beeping became just a tiny bit louder.

He looked around, taking a step backwards to hear the sound diminish.

_ So that’s how it works… _

He started walking again, the two runners following after him, millions of questions rising in them, but they didn’t say anything, letting Artemis do what he was doing.

They spent a couple minutes like that, going back and forth as the artefact beeped, guiding them  through the small maze of blades.

The small sounds became white noise when they reached a certain part, where blades were wide open to reveal a long dimly lit corridor.

“They kept on walking, stopping once their path was blocked by a wall.

“Well...another dead end.” Minho said, but Artemis didn’t think of it that way, apparently, neither did Thomas.

“I don’t think so Min. Why would a corridor lead to nowhere?” What Thomas said made sense, but Minho still wasn’t convinced.

“Come on Tom, there’s nothing here. Besides, all  corridors are like this, remember?” Well, Minho was right too, there were indeed some corridors leading nowhere, but still...it didn’t make sense. Especially that artefact Artemis was holding, it led them here didn’t it? Was it only trying to confuse them? Or was it…

He walked right to the wall, trying to find any tiny detail that would tell him this was not an ordinary wall, or corridor.

He looked down, noticing the object in his hands has stopped beeping.

His fingertip traced the black dot near the seven, watching as it clicked before flickering to green, along with the number.

At the same time, the ground rumbled beneath them, making them lose their balance for a moment, before stopping.

“The shuck was that?” No one had time to answer Thomas, when the ‘wall’ started lifting up, making Artemis take a step back, watching as the ‘entrance’ revealed another corridor, though smaller, with yet another ‘wall’ lifting up, allowing the three Gladers to see a closed circular metal cover.

“What the shuck is that?” 

As both runners questioned the strange opening, Artemis walked towards it. His curiosity getting the best of him. Where had he seen that before? 

Just as he crossed through the first wall, another click sounded, activating a strange red laser light from a corner. Checking Artemis over.

Once it finished, the metal cover slid open in a circular motion, revealing a dark opening.

He had no idea what was happening,but his feet had minds of their own, walking to the open cover, with the artefact still in his hands.

Something stopped him before he could reach the entrance of the tunnel. Some kind of force pushing him back, making him step back.

“Artemis? You okay?” Thomas asked concerned, he and Minho seeing Artemis struggling to walk forward. What was wrong with him?

“I can’t...walk forward…” Minho came to stand beside him, also trying to walk forward, but just like Artemis, he was unable to. There was something pushing him slightly back, something invisible.

“What the...the shuck is this?” Both struggled to against the force, but it wouldn’t work. In the end, the strange ‘force field’  pushed them back, sending Minho flying and landing on his back, though it merely pushed Artemis back a bit.

“Minho!” Thomas quickly went to check on his boyfriend, helping him get up, while Artemis just stared at the opening, wondering what was blocking him off from reaching it. How was it stronger than him?

Before he could try to cross again, an alarm blared, turning their attention to the blades and the maze.

The alarm seemed to trigger the new corridor to close, the three runners watching as the metal cover slid closed, along with the two walls.

“This is not good…” Next thing they knew, they were running towards the exit of the corridor full speed, the artefact Artemis was holding was passed to Minho, who put it in his small backpack, preventing it from getting lost.

Once outside, panic and tension surged from within them when they saw the blades closing in on themselves, rapidly blocking their ways of escape.

“Shuck! Run! Come on!” At Minho’s command, the three of them ran across the maze of blades, trying not to get separated on their way to the exit.

They made it out just in time, crossing right before the blades closed them in inside the section, but the maze wasn’t done.

The ground shook and trembled beneath them, cracking on each side of them raising small clouds of dirt. Though they weren’t concerned about that.

Right in front of them, was something similar to one of those blades, the floor beneath it opening like a book, making the blade come down, ready to hit the teens.

“Oh shit! Move out of the way!” They ran to the right, avoiding by inches the incoming blade coming down and crushing them on the spot.

The maze ground continued its strong tremors, cracking it while the boys kept running for their lives, the ground opening behind them, though they refused to look back and admire the view.

“Come on! We’re almost there!” They could see it clearly, the opening of the section was inches away from them, but it was closing in fast.

They sprinted towards the small opening, crawling underneath the coming down wall, right before another blade crushed them.

Reaching the other side, the three of them coughed and panted, trying to regain their breathing while watching as the entrance to section 7 closed, locking it.

“Holy fuck…” That was surely the most tense moment Artemis has had since the night he got stuck in the maze. Well, so much for telling Newt he would make sure he’d be safe. At least he wasn’t dead.

_ I’m gonna die of a fucking heart attack one of these days. Holy fucking hell. _

“Yeah...holy fuck indeed.” Seems like his swearing vocabulary was getting to Minho too. Good thing, it at least proved he was alive too.

“Ditto.” Thomas agreed with him too, coughing a bit as he regained his breath.

-

After they calmed themselves, they made their way back to the Glade, seeing the Gladers, along with Newt, Frypan, Chuck and others waiting for them.

Once their feet touched the grass, Minho and Thomas were immediately attacked by questions from their friends, while Artemis was quickly hugged by Newt.

He released a sigh, finding comfort in his boyfriend’s embrace. After all, his heart and mind were racing still from the action that had happened minutes ago. Though he was mindful of his hands, which to be honest were still covered in dirt and goo. He so wished to wash his hands.

“You okay?” The blonde asked concerned, checking Artemis for any injuries, sighing in relief when he saw him okay. The blonde’s hands held Artemis’ cheeks, tiptoeing to reach his forehead, kissing him softly.

“I am now.” Just being near the blonde filled him with a great calmness he craved at the moment.

“Dude, what is that?” Frypan’s voice broke the moment, as they turned their attention to see Minho take out the artefact Artemis had found inside the griever. “And where did you find it?”

“It was inside one of the dead grievers I killed.” Artemis answered, eyes widening, including Newt’s at his answer.

“Inside? You mean...you stuck your hands inside one of those things?” Artemis hesitantly nodded, watching as the faces of his friends paled, only making Artemis laugh.

“Yep, he did. Just be thankful you weren’t there to see it.” Of course, Minho always had to have a sarcastic remark ready.

“How about we take this to the Homestead? This is something we need to talk about.” Newt suggested, the others agreeing as they headed for the Homestead.

-WCKD’s Facility-

“Things are going faster than we expected.” Janson said, worried at how fast things had been escalating.

“Well, he’s always been a smart boy.” Ava answered, a proud smile on her lips. “This means we have to step up our game too.”

“Ava, it’s too early.” The man tried to argue, but he knew it was futile, the trials were coming to an end sooner than they had intentionally thought, so it was understandable Ava would want to speed things up as well.

“I know it is, but the way things are going, it won’t take long for Artemis to figure it out. And there is still something we need to see.” 

“Should I get Teresa?” The man asked, while Ava watched the screens, focusing on the one that focused on Artemis and Newt.

“Yes. There is no time to lose.”

-

“Are you ready?” The woman asked, as Teresa was checked by some nurses while they connected her with some cables.

“Yes. Don’t worry.” She was determined to go there. She had been expecting this moment since these trials began, knowing some day she would be in there too.

“Good, remember your mission?” Ava asked, giving Teresa two vials with a blue liquid, while a third held a yellow liquid.

“Yes. I must keep an eye on Newt, make him drink this vial.” She held the yellow liquid vial, staring at the liquid and trying to remember she should give it to the second in command. “Then one of this vials has to go to Alby.”

“Good. You must keep the other just in case, understood?” The girl nodded, giving a quick hug to the woman.

They pulled away, as Teresa laid down on the medical bed, the cables attached to her now being filled with a strange liquid.

“What else Teresa? What do you have to tell him?” She could feel her consciousness slip away, but even then, she managed to get words out.

“That WCKD is good.”


	18. Chapter 14: Who is she?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so sorry if this chapter is also short, but I was doing it while being at school. Anyway, I hope you like it, there is still going to be a chapter on saturday, or maybe during the week too, depends if I am in the mood to write, or I don't have any homework.  
> -Ziphonix2001

“Okay, now that everyone is here, let’s start the meeting.” At Newt’s command, the keepers went silent, sitting down to await explanations about why the sudden meeting. “Alright, Minho, go ahead.”

The keeper of the runners nodded, taking the artefact from Thomas’ hands that they found in the maze.

“Our main idea when we went to the maze was that we would go to section 7 to find out why Artemis, in his...weird state went there.”  Newt turned to Artemis discreetly, who was standing next to him propped against one of the poles holding the roof.

“Do you remember something yet?” The blonde asked hushedly, frowning when he received a negative response.

“No, not yet. The only things I can remember is getting cornered by those grievers and then finding myself near the entrance of the Glade.” He answered truthfully. He still couldn’t understand why he couldn’t remember anything about that night. He should have, he was awake, at least according to Minho, unless… “But I think I have a slight idea of what happened to me.”

“What happened then?” Newt glanced subtly at the others, listening a bit of the conversation to not miss anything important.

“I think I was being controlled.” There was no other explanation. Besides, he heard Ava’s voice right before he blacked out, and she was part of the Creators, so it wasn’t such a crazy idea to believe that they would be able to control them. 

“By who? The Creators?” He nodded, smiling just a tiny bit to reassure Newt’s concerned gaze. 

“It’s okay, I’m fine. They don’t hurt, they’re just weird. It’s like sleeping but not quite.” With a sigh of understanding, both males turned their attention back on the meeting, just as the keeper of the runners began explaining about their finding in the maze.

“When we found the dead griever, we made sure it was really dead. Thankfully, it was, thanks to Artemis who cut it open entirely.” Some of the Gladers were happy they didn’t see it, not sure they would be able to keep any food down in a full week after witnessing something that gruesome.

“Anyways, after that...I think it’s better if Artemis tells you personally.” With Minho’s and Newt’s permission, he began explaining his side of the story.

“Well, it’s not that hard to explain. I just saw something inside the griever. Some kind of light.” Thomas gave him the artefact, still with that glowing red seven. “And when I took it out, we found this.”

The curious gazes of the boys didn’t go unnoticed, staring at the strange metal thing in Artemis’ hand.

“Let me see, Arti” He gave it to the second in command, letting him examine it thoroughly. “What is it?”

“We don’t kno-”

“It’s a key.” Minho was suddenly interrupted by Artemis, eyes wide as he took in his answer.

“A key? To what?” Artemis didn’t answer, his whole body going rigid as his ears picked up a very familiar sound, along with a voice.

**To the exit.**

“ _ To the exit. _ ” He had no control of his voice, repeating what his mind had told him, what the  _ girl  _ had told him.

Just then, an alarm took everyone but him by surprise. A sound they all knew too well.

“It’s the greenie alarm!”

“What?! But it’s too early!”

Before anyone could move, Artemis pushed past the boys right in front of the door, exiting the homestead under the confused stares of his friends and boyfriend.

Newt immediately followed after him, along with both runners, and eventually, the others.

They all approached the center of the Glade, along with the other gladers who had been caught by surprise by the greenie alarm while they had been working.

No one knew what to expect when Artemis lifted the cover by himself, with just a tiny bit of help thanks to Minho.

Gasps of astonishment were heard from the circle of boys, as their eyes landed on the single figure of a  _ girl _ passed out in the middle of the box.

Artemis was frozen, his mind racing with a hundred thoughts the more he stared at the girl.

Before he could stop himself, his mouth muttered a name so foreign but so familiar at the same time, it even left him speechless.

“Teresa?” Apparently, he wasn’t the only one caught off guards by his choice of words. The boys turning to him in shock.

Newt, who stood beside him, gently gripped his arm, concern in his features as he saw Artemis’ stare on the girl.

“Arti? You know her?” Artemis didn’t answer, his body still frozen in shock at seeing the girl he heard sometimes in his mind lying there, unconscious by the looks of it.

He knew it had to be her. He didn’t know how or why he knew this, or how he could know her name. But he knew it was her.

Seeing no one was going to help the girl out, Newt jumped down, determined to find out who this mysterious girl was and how did Artemis know who she was.

“There’s something in her hand!” Chuck pointed out, all eyes flickered to the half open palm of the girl.

Newt carefully squat down, opening her hand and taking out whatever was in it. Turns out, it was a piece of paper, with the very same calligraphy Artemis’ note had come up.

Everyone was anxious to find out what the note said, turns out, Newt was also nervous to say it out loud.

“She’s the last one, ever.” Well, that wasn’t very self explanatory. And it left many boys confused.

What the hell were the Creators planning? And what did they mean by being the last one? Were there not going to be anymore greenies? Was that what they meant?

All of these questions were stuck on repeat inside their minds, though only one mattered.

_ Who is she? _

“What the bloody hell does that mean?” Newt was the first one to break the silence, staring up at his friends in confusion, then his eyes landing on Artemis, who was still standing there, not moving an inch, his sole focus on the girl, which made the blonde feel a tiny spark of jealousy within him.

Before he could question him however, a loud gasp took everyone by surprise, even Artemis. Many pairs of eyes going wide for the tenth time that day when they saw the girl’s open eyes, which were a darker shade of blue, unlike Artemis’ sky ones.

Her breathing was fast, her gaze clearly unfocused for a second, taking in the circle of startled boys around before her eyes settled on Artemis figure watching her from above.

“Artemis…”Slowly, all gazes turned to Artemis, who was as confused and shocked as the rest of his friends.

It seemed like it took too much for the girl, Teresa, to say those words out loud, because her eyes rolled back into her head, eyelids fluttering shut as her consciousness slipped away.

“You still think I’m overreacting or what?” Nobody stopped Gally, nobody told him to shut up. Everything was too strange for them to even process any words said, unless they counted the girl’s.

Artemis couldn’t take it anymore, his mind going wild as images, lights and voices swept through it, making everything around him spin.

His sky blue gaze met Newt’s briefly, and the blonde’s eyes widened when he saw how distraught his boyfriend looked. Almost like-

“Arti!” Newt shouted, just in time for Thomas and Minho to react, turning to see Artemis closing his eyes, body giving out as he fell towards the ground.

-

_ Artemis dreamt of nothing. Only a vast void of darkness and a voice. A girl’s voice. _

_ Teresa’s. _

**_Artemis! Can you hear me?!_ **

Teresa?

**_It’s me! Quick! We don’t have much time! I can feel my memories slipping away!_ **

You’re here...you’re in the glade…

**_There is no time to think about that now! You have to listen to me!_ **

Calm down! For fuck’s sake!

**_Language! This is serious!_ **

Okay, okay. Fine! What is it?

**_You need to be prepared! Something is going to go wrong! Very very wrong…_ **

_ Her voice was cracking, trying to manage words out of her mouth, or mind in this case. _

**_I can feel it...I’m forgetting…_ **

Teresa! What is it?! Tell me!

**_I remember...that everything is going to change…_ **

_ Her voice was fading, and Artemis could feel panic and worry coursing through his veins..err, mind, as she kept fading out. _

What else?! Teresa? Teresa!

**_Artemis...WCKD is good…_ **

W-what?

**_WCKD is good, WCKD is good…_ **

_ She kept saying those words, her voice echoing in his mind as she kept fading away. _

-WCKD’s Facility-

“It is done. Now we have to wait for them both to wake up.” Ava concluded, her eyes filling with tears as she thought of what was about to happen.

“Ava...This is not right…” Janson tried to convince her once more, but knew there was  nothing he could do now. It was done.

“We can’t go back. I can’t go back.” She kept a straight face, her eyes focusing on Artemis sleeping form on one of the bed’s of the medjack’s hut. He was being taken care by Newt, who kept holding his hand close to him.

“Teresa still has the vials, correct?” Janson nodded, changing one of the small cameras to focus on the also sleeping form of the girl. More specifically, her waist, which held a small sheath pretty similar to Artemis’, only with the vials.

“Good. Make sure that Newt drinks the third vial. He needs it if we want to find out it worked.” A small spark of hope revived inside her, firmly believing that the modification they had done to the second in command paid off.

“You know it will be hard with Artemis around. He won’t let Newt drink it if he keeps watch over him 24/7.” It was true, with Artemis’ protectiveness on the way, it would be very difficult to get the blonde to drink the vial.

“He’ll understand. He will know it is for Newt’s safety, and also ‘theirs’.”

 


	19. Another note (Sorry!)

Hey guys, I am so sorry that I wasn't able to post a chapter, but I had to take care of some family business this weekend and had no time to focus on writing the next chapter.  
So please forgive me, but I promise I will upload it as soon as I can. Don't know if it'll be during the week or next weekend, but you will have the next chapter, I promise. And also, I'll try to make it as long as I can and fill it with action and thrill, so watch out.  
Again, so sorry for those awaiting the next part of the story, but I'll post it, so please, I only ask a tiny bit of patience, okay? Thank you so much guys, you're awesome!  
\- Ziphonix2001


	20. And yet again, another note. Sorry guys.

I am so freaking sorry about these notes, and I know that many of you are waiting for the next chapter that I was supposed to upload this weekend, but unfortunately, due to many things going on in my chaotic life, I have been unable to do so. I sincerely apologize for the long waits, but there is so much stuff going on that I can't keep track of too many things at once.

Especially since school is beginning to be stressful before holidays, and family drama over Christmas dinner. (Yep, so early, I know, but my family plans things way ahead of time.)

But I solemnly swear, that once my shit is solved I will give you the next chapter, I just ask for patience (Which I seem to ask for a lot lately.) okay? 

I am terribly sorry if you have to wait a bit, perhaps I will try to solve all of this by Christmas, so you can have a new chapter.

Anyways, I also wanted to ask how you've liked the story so far, if something should be changed, what you would like to see, etc.

I would like to know everyone's opinion, though please no mean comments 'kay?

Thank you so much and sorry again! You're all awesome people!

\- Ziphonix2001


	21. Quick question

So guys, I've been thinking, I know some of you want to see more smut and affection between Artemis and Newt, so I came up with the idea that perhaps I could do a special Christmas chapter.

What do you think? 

Of course, it would basically be smut and fluff completely, but I wanted to know your opinion.

And don't worry, that doesn't mean I'll leave the story behind, it's just an early Christmas gift as thanks for the support you've given the story.

Anyways, let me know what you think.

\- Ziphonix2001


	22. Special Christmas Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> READ THE NOTE AT THE BEGINNING BEFORE READING THE CHAPTER, THANK YOU!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, first, I wish to apologize for my inactivity, but I was finishing school and I wanted to have everything over with.  
> Second of, regarding this chapter, this has nothing to do with the main story, although the characters are the same and the relationships as well. It is basically small prompts that I had wanted to do, all smut of course, along with a tiny hint of fluff/angst. (I also made a small mention for Thominho, gotta give those two some love.) I really hope you enjoy them. There aren't many, since I am still a bit unfamiliar with the concept of writing smut.  
> And third, the story will contiunue normally, perhaps I'll post a chapter in two days, due to family business, but be ready!  
> I also wish you a very Merry Newtmas everybody! (Yes, Newtmas. XD)  
> \- Ziphonix2001
> 
> Tags for the chapter: Masturbation, oral, clothed/half dressed, fingering, sensory deprivation, fantasy, makeup sex. (These are prompts I found on the internet and wanted to try. Also, they're in order and separated by this sign -> //// .)

**//////////**

They had no idea how they got in that kind of situation. As soon as Artemis came back from his run, in which he had the shortest route, he went straight to the map room with Newt following. And right as the door closed, both were making out furiously and trying to get rid of their clothing at the speed of light, with Newt taking off Artemis’ runner gear and weapon and the older male taking Newt’s belt off.

Perhaps it was because Artemis had way too much energy to spend and the short run wasn’t enough to ease him, or maybe because Newt felt turned on at the sight of Artemis in his running gear, either way, they didn’t care, they wanted to relieve some stress and this was the best way.

Although it was probably a bad idea doing that in the map room since the runners were supposed to come back at any moment and they would run into them in such a compromising position, but that only spurred them on, the idea of being caught exciting them.

Newt parted away from the bruising kiss, releasing a moan when Artemis attached his lips on his pale neck, his hand going inside his pants to stroke him.

But the blonde knew his lover was also in need of attention, though he’d never voice it directly, Newt knew him too well, so with trembling yet confident hands, he did the same, a sigh escaping him as he took Artemis’ cock in his hands.

A low growl rumbled in the older male’s chest as he fought to keep control, his gentle kisses turning into bites that left marks all over his boyfriend’s skin, something that Newt would later have trouble covering but at the moment, he didn’t bother to stop him.

“Arti…” The soft calling of his nickname in such a needy tone made Artemis twitch, his teeth sinking on Newt’s shoulder hard but not enough to draw blood, as more moans and the occasional whimper came out of the blonde’s mouth.

“I love you...so f-fucking much...you know that, right?” Newt smiled at the words, no matter how much control Artemis lost, he still wanted to make sure Newt knew he loved him, and would never hurt him on purpose.

“I l-love you too, Arti…” Their movements became erratic, trying to take each other to oblivion while trying to muffle their groans with another bruising kiss.

-

As Thomas and Minho approached the map room, the brunette was suddenly stopped by his Asian partner, turning to him with a questioning glance.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, only earning a knowing smirk from the black haired teen while he took them both the other way. “Aren’t we going to map our route?”

“Nah, it can wait. Besides, the room is already... _ occupied _ .” Thomas was still not understanding what was going on until he heard a rather loud moan come from inside, his skin flushing a deep scarlet as he realized what was happening.

“ _ Oh _ .”

“Yep.”

**//////////**

Everyone knew the blonde second in command as the gentle, kind hearted and sometimes shy co-leader, someone who had never broken a plate in his whole life and was ‘innocent’ as far as the other gladers knew.

_ Yeah, innocent my ass.  _ Artemis thought, his brain short circuiting as he tightened his grip on Newt’s blonde hair, low groans coming from him  while watching the scene below him.

There he was, the oh so nice and cute second in command sucking him off in the homestead. Man, they like living dangerously don’t they?

“Newt...fuck…” Artemis growled, his arousal reaching a breaking point when the blonde looked up at him with those beautiful brown orbs of his, pulling away and smirking up at Artemis knowingly.

“Hmm?” Screw everyone who said Newt was a sweet little angel, he was a sneaky cheeky devil who knew exactly how to rile Artemis up.

With a half-hearted glare to the blonde, Newt continued his torture, running his tongue all over his lover’s shaft slowly, spending extra time on the tip.

This was going to be a long fucking hour for Artemis, but he wasn’t complaining much, that and he also brought it on himself, somehow. Since according to Newt, he was “Spending way too much bloody time with Tommy”and he didn’t like it. Guess he wasn’t the only one possessive about his partner. Anyhow, Newt acting so bossy and dominant made the blue eyed male even more turned on. This was a rare but gorgeous sight for the blonde to be in.

Thankfully, Newt was merciful at the end, going as far to deepthroat Artemis entire length that was no way near small, startling Artemis from the sudden movement.

There were very little things that could make the older male sweat, but it seems he could add ‘Newt giving him a blowjob’ to the list, because he was panting and gasping for breath as if he had run the entire maze, section through section for an entire day and night ten times.

Newt licked his lips, still tasting his boyfriend’s come while rising up, pressing a loving kiss to Artemis who was still out of it, regaining his control back while the blonde left, a smirk on his lips.

“I can be dominant too if I want to Arti.”

And fuck if Artemis doesn’t know about that now.

**//////////**

Everyone knew how dangerous the maze was, especially the runners, but guess sometimes hormones of horny teenage boys, scratch that, two teenage boys was stronger.

These ‘horny teenage boys’ being Thomas and the keeper of the runners, Minho. 

Both were too caught up in each other, wanting the action to begin already before any runner came through there, or worse, a griever.

They didn’t have enough time to take off their shirts, so they settled with pulling down their pants halfway, letting their cocks free while making out furiously.

Adrenaline was pumping in their veins, as Minho prepared Thomas as fast as he could, but also with care, the last thing he wanted to do was to hurt the doe eyed boy by being too reckless and impatient.

A low groan came from Thomas, gripping the Asian’s shoulders to steady himself, while Minho buried himself to the hilt, not waiting any second longer to start thrusting frantically, once he made sure Thomas was well prepared.

It didn’t take them long to reach their peak, the pent up tension and the adrenaline making them go crazy in just a few minutes, with Minho coming inside the brown eyed male and Thomas coating their shirts, his neck covered in bites and bruises.

“I hate you.” Thomas muttered, earning a confused glance from Minho who was trying to make himself look casual, fixing his ‘fabulous’ hair.

“Why?”

“Because I can’t shucking walk thanks to you, shuck face.” Thomas whined, holding onto the wall of the maze for support while Minho laughed.

“Guess that means I did it right.”

“Yeah, and it also means you might have to carry me back to the glade, dumbass.”

**//////////**

Newt woke up to gentle kisses to his neck, along with a hand sneakily trailing downwards and into his pants.

“What are you doing?” The blonde slurred out, still drowsy with sleep while moaning lowly to not wake up the others, when a finger traced the outline of his entrance, not pushing in.

“I’m curious to see if I can make you come without touching you once, just doing this.” The finger previously tracing his hole entered, slowly, making Newt moan into the pillow, gripping the sheets tight in a fist.

The kisses on his neck trailed upwards, Artemis’ teeth biting Newt’s earlobe, an electric current going from Newt’s toes to his head, his whimpers feebly muffled by the pillow.

“Shh, don’t want to wake the others.” As much as Artemis wanted Newt to keep silent so they wouldn’t be discovered, the more animalistic side of him wanted the blonde to cry out and alert the others of what was happening right next to them.

“E-easy for y-you to s-saahh…” A gasp came out from the second in command, when another finger joined the other already inside of him, scissoring them to stretch him.

Heat pooled at the pit of his stomach, warning him of the impending climax he would reach if Artemis kept going like that. Apparently, Artemis also noticed, his pace increasing and adding yet another finger.

That’s what it took for Newt to come, just as Artemis promised, untouched. Which, to be honest, embarrassed the blonde a tiny bit, especially at the smug look on Artemis’ face.

“If this is how you’re gonna wake me up all mornings, feel free to do so whenever you want.” And he meant it, he might wake up a bit tired, but absolutely and completely satisfied.

**//////////**

“Can you move your hands or see anything?” Artemis asked, earning a feeble ‘No’ from his boyfriend. “Good.”

Newt was trying to contain his excitement, his body trembling a bit as he awaited Artemis’ move. He could hear the other’s slow breathing, but he couldn’t pinpoint his exact location.

He gave out a yelp, his body jerking forward when he felt lips kiss the back of his neck, trailing down his spine, and a pair of hands holding him steadily by the hips.

All his senses were on high alert, every caress and kiss, along with the occasional bite was felt ten times stronger because of his deprivation of senses.

As much as he liked having control of situations that happened in the glade, giving up control to someone you loved and knew would never hurt you or use anything against you was wonderful. Expectations were high in the glade, and both Alby and Newt knew that, so when the blonde got to lose control and let somebody take the reins, he felt a weight lifted off his shoulders, at least, for the time being.

The blue eyed male’s hands roamed his body, along with his lips, never leaving a patch of skin untouched. Newt came at least three times, one untouched, the other with both his cock and a pair of fingers inside him and a last time with Artemis buried deep inside him, leaving him trembling, especially since all his senses were heightened.

By the time it took for Artemis to take off the ropes bounding the blonde’s wrists together and the blindfold blocking his vision, Newt was panting and gasping for breath, his body almost giving out was it not for Artemis holding him in his arms, laying him down.

“Okay...we have to do that again…” The blue eyed male nodded, the image of Newt looking so helpless while being tied and blindfolded was beautiful, and he so wanted to see it again.

“Fuck yeah we are.”

**//////////**

Newt liked when Artemis made love to him, it showed how much the blue eyed male cared for him, and he loved that.

But he also wondered, what would it feel like if Artemis lost control.

He remembered that time Artemis lost all self control on himself, acting like a raging wolf, growling and snapping at anyone who came close to him, anyone but Newt.

That did  _ something  _ to the blonde, seeing his loving and protective lover so unfocused and acting so primal made him feel hot under the collar.

So, at night, when the other gladers were asleep and Artemis was cuddled next to him, the creative part of his brain made those thoughts come true, in the shape of a dream.

_ He was deep in the dead heads, with Artemis hovering above him, eyes completely black leaving a string of blue visible while growling. _

_ His hands tearing the blonde’s shirt and hoodie open with tremendous strength, teeth sinking into Newt’s shoulder hard, a cry escaping the younger male since he could feel the wound bleed. _

_ More love bites were placed all over the second in command, on his chest, shoulders, neck, collarbone, even on his hips. _

_ All the while, the brown eyed teen couldn’t keep his moans at bay, tears of pain and pleasure coming from him while Artemis teared off his pants. _

_ “Arti, please…” His prayers fell on deaf ears, a loud cry coming from Newt when Artemis entered him from a single thrust, beginning to pound the boy into insanity, still groaning and snarling like a crazed wolf. _

_ He had no idea someone could last that long, and at such a fast pace. Pulling out almost entirely before going back in, hitting Newt’s prostate right away. _

_ Tears of pleasure fell from his cheeks, as gasps, broken sobs and groans poured from his lips. _

_ It went on like that for who knows how long, and Nwt was pretty sure he came at least a thousand times. _

But reality has always a way of pulling you away of something great, his eyes opened, when he felt someone shake him, trying to wake him up.

He looked up to meet Artemis’ concerned gaze staring down on him, ad he was confused.

“You okay?” The older male asked,worry evident on his face, his blue eyes searching for any harm or discomfort on his young lover. “You were moving and whimpering. Nightmare?”

“Yeah..” He lied, it was anything but a nightmare, more like a wonderful dream, but he kept that little information to himself, not wanting to give his boyfriend a heart attack.

“You sure? You were whimpering in your sleep.” Should he tell him? Would he be freaked out? Disgusted? Angry? Aroused…?

“Well, I…” With a defeated sigh, he rose up, not bothering to put his hoodie on, motioning for Artemis to follow him.

_ Actions speak louder than words.  _ Newt thought, a mischievous smile on his lips as he guided his lover into the deadheads, who was oblivious of his partner’s intentions.

-

Zart was in charge that day of gathering fertilizer, so he went into the deadheads for some. 

He had wondered where the second in command, who was supposed to be in the gardens, was at. There were no meeting held in the homestead, so where-

“Arti!Harder, please!” Zart’s eyes widened, a blush creeping up his neck when he realized where exactly his friend as.

He wasn’t any runner, but never in his life had the trackhoe run so fast.

-

“You’re back early. What ha-”

“No fertilizer today!”

**//////////**

He had done it again, Artemis had almost gone and locked himself in the maze overnight and this was the fifth time that week.

As much as he knew his boyfriend could take care of himself in such a dangerous place, it still gave him nightmares that he would be trapped there and unable to be found in the morning.

So, when h found out Artemis had gotten too reckless again, he got angry, like really angry. And when the blonde gets mad, he’s a force to be reckoned with.

The second in command had confronted his lover about his behaviour, and it ended with them in a fight, sleeping on different hammocks and ignoring each other.

The next morning, Artemis thought Newt had forgotten about it, but boy was he wrong.

His young lover ignored him, acted like he wasn’t there, and it hurt him. He just wanted to find an exit, so that he and Newt could be happy, but guess his motivation had gone too far.

He had even ignored affectionate acts of love from him, and it only made Artemis feel like a complete disaster. 

And once again, he withdrew himself from everyone. Thinking that was what Newt wanted him to do.

After a while of not seeing his lover, Newt was surprised to find out that Artemis had missed all meals, and that he was spending too much time alone in the deadheads, not even going into the maze.

A tiny gasp escaped from Newt, tears brimming in his eyes when he found Artemis deep in the forest, looking completely out of himself.

There were many soft spoken apologies from both teens, along with words of love as they made up. Both understanding now that instead of pulling away and fighting, what they needed to do was talk, not jump to conclusions.

There wasn’t any rough pounding or angry sex, just beautiful and meaningful love making. And no one questioned what they had been doing so much time in there, they were happy, especially Thomas and Minho, that their best friends were together again. This proved how much both cared for the other, and that not even a stupid little fight could tear them apart.

  
  
  



	23. Chapter 15: Heathens (Pt. 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year guys! (Even if it's already a bit late.) I am back with a new chapter.  
> This one, will be divided in two parts. So don't worry if the first one is too short, the other will be longer, I promise.  
> Also things are getting interesting!  
> And as promised, there will be more romance going on.  
> Hope you like it!  
> \- Ziphonix2001
> 
> (PS: I also made this during school, so forgive me for any mistakes.)

Newt watched for the fifth time as Artemis’ body fidgeted in his sleep. Hands trembling while clutching the sheets, grunting as if in pain.

The blonde sighed sadly, one of his hands reaching forward to grasp one of Artemis shaky ones, lacing their fingers together in an attempt to comfort the older male.

It worked, Artemis's whole body went rigid for a second, before he started to relax, a peaceful expression on his face.

This made the second in command smile, amazed that even in his unconscious state, Artemis was able to feel him there, standing next to him.

Unbeknownst to them, a certain runner was watching everything from the doorway, concern on his brown orbs as he stared at his friends.

-

Thomas let out a heavy sigh, his gaze never wavering away.

He hated seeing Newt like this, he was his best friend, and Artemis had also become a good friend of his. So seeing both of them like that was truly worrying.

He wished he could do something to cheer up the blonde, but there was nothing he could do. Unless Artemis woke up, Newt would refuse to leave his side, even if that meant he had no food or water for the past 6 hours.

He was too wrapped up in his thoughts he didn't notice his partner coming back from a quick run in the maze before the doors closed, headed straight to the map room, only to falter in his step when he noticed Thomas outside the medjacks hut.

Ignoring his duties, the keeper turned the other way, running up to his boyfriend, who turned his gaze towards him when he heard his footsteps coming from behind him.

“Hey. You're back. How was your run?” The brunette asked, the faintest of smiles appearing on his lips when Minho pressed a small kiss to his forehead and a quick one to his lips.

“Nothing new. I tried to go back to Section 7, but it's still closed, so we can't go back to study that place yet.” Minho explained, Thomas nodding in understanding before his gaze turned on the other couple in the hut, the keeper's stare following suit.

“Still hasn't woke up?” The Asian frowned when he received a negative response from the runner. Then another question came to his mind. “What about the girl? Or Alby?”

From their position by the door, they could catch a small glimpse of the bed next to Artemis’, which had the girl sleeping peacefully, her eyelids fluttering occasionally but not waking up.

Then yet another makeshift bed that had the leader of the glade unconscious form on it. Twitching once in a while while he had his brows furrowed, as if he was having a nightmare.

As much as Minho understood that Newt wanted to stay by his lover's side, he also knew Artemis wouldn't appreciate it much if his boyfriend took little care about himself. Besides, he’d taken care of Thomas when Minho had asked, it was only fair he’d do the same for him.

So, with a determined glare, the keeper of the runners stormed inside, a plan already forming in his mind.

-

Newt was too wrapped up in his thoughts that he never took notice of the conversation going on near him, and neither did he hear the footsteps approach his sitting figure until it was too late.

A yelp came from the startled blonde when something grabbed his wrist, pulling him up with little strength.

He turned angrily to whoever dared do that, his glare faltering when he noticed it was Minho, trying to drag him away and out of the hut.

“Minho? What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?” He gets no reply, and as much as he tries to sit back on his spot, Minho tightens his grip. “Minho I swear, if you don't let go now, I’ll-”

“You’re going to eat and rest. I don't fucking care if you send me to the slammer or even banish me shuck face, but you are my best friend and I care about you. Now shut up and let us take care of you for once.”

Newt was shocked, turning to Thomas incredulously, but the brunette only nodded, agreeing with the keeper, looking down in shame at Newt’s betrayed look.

Before the blonde had a chance to protest, Minho spoke again.

“Do you think Artemis would like it if you didn't care for yourself?”

Newt said nothing, lowering his gaze to the ground in understanding.

“Exactly. Now come on. Dinner's ready. Artemis can take care of himself for a few hours.”

With one last sigh, Newt followed after his friends, glancing back one last time to the sleeping form of his boyfriend.

“I'll be back soon Arti.” He muttered, before closing the door shut.

Unfortunately, he failed to notice a certain object creep closer to his lover’s bed as soon as the door shut, bright red eyes scanning the surroundings.

It was similar to a beetle blade, but with some kind of syringe on the tail, filled with a black liquid.

It climbed up the bed, standing on top of one of Artemis’ arms, and in a quick second, the needle was injected in a visible vein.

As soon as the whole vial was empty, it retreated. A bruise quickly forming on the pale skin but disappearing almost immediately, as if nothing happened.

The mechanical object hurriedly ran for cover, hidden in one of the cracks on the hut’s wall, it’s eyes watching Artemis’ form attentively.

In a quick motion, Artemis sat up on the bed abruptly. Breathing heavily with unfocused blue orbs, quickly being consumed by a dark mass. Only this time, there was no string of the light blue visible. They were void of color.

Seeing it had completed its work, the beetle blade look alike disappeared through the crack before anyone could notice it was even there in the first place.

-

Newt had been so focused on taking care of Artemis and making sure he was alright, that he hadn't noticed he was starving and absolutely dehydrated until he reached the kitchens.

Thankfully, it seems that Frypan had saved him some dinner, that only lasted 5 seconds before the blonde ate it all, and drank at least three glasses of water.

Seeing as he had done what his friends wanted him to do, and hoped they were satisfied, he made his way back to the medjack's hut, only to be stopped by Minho again.

“Nu-uh, where'd you think you're going? You're gonna rest now, you'll see him tomorrow, he's not gonna move.” Curse Minho and his ability to convince people. He was very talented in that, and he could’ve been a great leader, shame he sometimes was way too ahead of himself.

“Okay…” Newt answered with a sigh of defeat, eyeing from the corner of his eyes the hut.

_ Arti… _

His thoughts raced, especially when he laid on his hammock, which had been relocated for the time being, courtesy of Chuck and Thomas.

His heart ached, when he saw Thomas lay on Minho's hammock, both cuddling close to one another and drifting off to sleep.

Newt turned to face the other side, seeing the dagger sheath of his boyfriend where Artemis would usually sleep next to him.

He brought it closer to himself, taking the handle out for a brief moment to see Artemis’ name carved on it.

_ Please Arti...don't leave me now. Don't please. I finally have you back… _

Without warning, tears began to fall from his eyes, staining the pillow. But no sobs came from him, he shook and cried in silence, and nobody knew.

In the end, he ended passing out. And his dreams where anything but peaceful.

-

“Ava! Ava!” Janson was screaming like mad, running through the halls of WCKD’s facility in search of the woman, ignoring the confused glances his way from the other people.

Once he arrived at her office, he didn't bother knocking, opening the door wide open.

He caught Ava talking with a couple of nurses, all women taken aback by his sudden appearance.

“Janson? Is everything alright? What-”

“It's Artemis.” 

At the mention of the male, Ava's face quickly morphed into one of concern, dismissing the nurses immediately.

“What's wrong with him? Did he wake up?” She received no answer, instead, her hand was taken in Janson's, pulling her to follow him.

Once again, the pair sprinted down the halls, gaining the attention of those who saw them.

As they arrived to the monitor room, Janson immediately took control of a beetle blade, guiding it inside the medjack's hut.

Ava wondered what was wrong until she noticed that the bed where Artemis was supposed to be was empty, no sign of the boy.

Fear and worry began to creep in the woman's heart.

“Where is he? Did he wake up? And where is Newt?” Janson quickly moved another beetle blade, which was close to the sleeping are of the Gladers. Scanning all boys until they saw Newt, sleeping on his bed, with tear stains still visible on his cheeks.

“Oh god…” Hearing the man mutter under his breath made the chancellor turn to him, a look of horror and concern on his features.

“What?” Looking back at the cameras, her face paled, blue eyes widening when she saw the screen.

Deep inside the deadheads, were the forest touched one of the walls of the maze, was an opening. A dark narrow corridor leading into...

“Ava…” The aforementioned female turned to him, seeing the same expression on his face. She felt she couldn't breathe the moment Janson spoke his next words. “Artemis is in there...he's  _ inside the maze _ …”

Whether it was from the shock, or the worry, Ava stumbled a bit, sitting on a lonely chair to grab a hold of her thoughts.

_ This cannot be happening...this is… _

“What do we do?” She ignored the man, focusing in thinking of a plan.

She glanced at the screen still showing the maze corridor wide open. Then at the image of Newt sleeping on his hammock, noticing the trails of tears while he held Artemis’ dagger sheath close.

“Make sure all of the Gladers are asleep. That no one wakes up for the time being until we manage to find Artemis. Chaos could break loose and we don’t need that right now. Not yet. I also want a complete report of the events. What happened and who did this, do not bother me until you find something.”

The man was confused, but before he could ask what Ava had meant, the woman bolted out of the room. Pure determination in her features.

She practically ran back to her office, sitting on her chair by her desk and opening her laptop.

She entered many codes, the screen lighting up with documents and a map of the entire maze.

“Let’s see if we can bring you back, Artemis.”

-

Newt was awakened from his slumber by something cold and pointy crawling up his legs, then up his arms, resting comfortably there while whirring and clicking.

_ Wait, what? _

With annoyance and a hint of curiosity, the blonde opened his eyes, sleep vanishing from his features the moment he saw what woke him up.

At first, his unfocused gaze made him believe it was a beetle blade. And he was about to brush it off and keep sleeping when he noticed it was unlike those damned objects.

It was like a bug, a centipede if you want, with a large metallic body and hundreds of tiny needle like feet that Newt realized were what he felt crawling all over his skin.

What caught his attention, were the bright blue optics of the creature. Tiny at the top of its head, and right above it, a couple of thin antennas.

The ‘centipede’ gave a low chirp, as it noticed the second in command was awake. Then carefully crawled off the blonde’s arm, down his stomach and onto the hammock, staring up at the blonde expectantly.

“And what are you supposed to be?” Newt must’ve sounded like a crazy shank, talking to that tiny robot that he knew for surely belonged to the Creator’s, as if it would understand him and answer him. But he couldn’t help it. Never in his three years in the Glade had he ever seen something like that, he had been so used to seeing those damn flying beetle blades that he’d never noticed or knew for that matter that there also existed terrestrial ones.

For a second, Newt took a look around, in case someone woke up and saw what was happening, but all the gladers were asleep, blissfully unaware of what was happening right next to them.

Turning to the robotic bug, the second in command was surprised to see it staring at him still, with its head tilted to the side as if studying him.

Then the artefact began to move again, crawling towards the blonde’s chest where he still held onto Artemis’ dagger sheath, tugging at the material.

Confusion was evident in his features, as he tried to understand whatever the thing was trying to tell him. 

The bug seemed to understand, quickly letting go of the sheath’ material, crawling off the hammock onto the floor. It turned its optics to Newt, as if making sure he was still watching, and then its optics brightened even more and some kind of laser, shot from its eyes, pointing directly towards-

“The medjack’s hut?” Something akin to worry and panic began to rise in his body. And without a second thought, he got up from his bed, grabbing the dagger’s sheath, putting on his shoes and sprinting off towards the hut, followed closely by the centipede that no longer shot lasers through his eyes.

The second in command forced himself to open the door quietly, not wanting to alert the others he was awake, since he knew they would bring him back to his hammock and he wouldn’t be able to see what was wrong.

He wondered why he was feeling so panicked, and why he was listening...er, following after the indications an artefact from the Creators was giving him. He knew they could be leading him into a trap of some sorts, but he still complied, knowing someway somehow, that whatever the bug was about to show him was important.

The bright optics of the bug allowed him to see the pitch black interior of the hut. He could see the silhouette of the girl still resting peacefully, the twitching form of Alby, and the…

“Oh no…” Realization dawned on him, when he noticed that the bed in which Artemis was supposed to be was absolutely empty, any trace of the blue eyed male gone.

He was about to have a panic attack, was it not thanks to a tug on his pants. Looking down to see the centipede crawling away, standing at the door, nodding its head outside, as if wanting Newt to follow it.

“You know where he is don’t you?” A nod from the head confirmed his suspicions, and against better judgement, he followed after the creature, hoping that the tiny robot was truly guiding him and helping him. 

He knew he still had no reason to trust it. That perhaps everything that was happening was merely a trick. But deep within himself, something told him to do it.

He also knew that at least he should call for someone, tell them what was happening. But he doubted they would let him do what he was doing. So he kept silent, chasing after the robot as it guided him into the deadheads, away from the still sleeping gladers.

-

Ava smiled, as she saw Newt follow the little creature she was controlling.

She knew he was sceptical, but after he discovered Artemis was gone and the panic that rose in him the moment he saw he disappeared, she knew the blonde would do anything to get him back.

A knock on her door startled her for a moment, but she never took her eyes off the screens, focused on the task at hand.

“Unless you found something of importance, I do not wish to hear anything.” Her voice was stern, not even bothering to lift her gaze to see whoever had come inside.

“Artemis was heavily drugged.” Janson’s voice froze her momentarily, setting the control on automatic and setting her blue gaze on the man. “We still don’t know who did it, but it seems someone had injected a large quantity of psychoactive drugs in his blood system, which made him go mad and into that state we both know so well.” 

Ava was overwhelmed with concern, but also pent up anger. Who dared do this to him? And why?

“...Also, I believe it was the same person too who opened that secret passage leading to the...ehm, restricted section. We’re still working on identifying who did it.” The only response he got was an acknowledging nod from the woman, and he took that as his cue to leave. Only to be stopped by her voice as he was about to go through the door.

“Janson.” He turned to her expectantly, watching as a determined and angry glint appeared in her crystal orbs, darkening them slightly. “When you find whoever did this, bring them directly to me. You and I will be the ones to deal with this.”

“Understood.”

-

Newt wondered where exactly this thing was leading him. They’ve been walking through that forest for fifteen minutes now, and still there was no sign of Artemis.

It wasn’t until a few moments later that they reached the end of the woods, where the leaves of the trees touched the maze wall encircling the glade. Only this time, there was an opening. Narrow and dark , with ivy covering it slightly. 

He had been in these forest one too many times, and never had he seen something like that.

Was it a secret passage? Why did it open now and not before? Was Artemis in there?

Questions swarmed his head, causing him to get dizzy and hold onto a tree bark for support.

He then looked down at the creature, seeing it crawl towards the opening, its optics illuminating the corridor with a blue hue, head moving back and forth between the entrance and Newt.

Wanting him to go inside, _ into the maze. _

-

Ava watched with worry and sadness as Newt’s brain activity changed. And she knew what was going on in the young male’s mind.

That corridor led directly into the maze. and it was still dark, which meant there was a slight chance of encountering a griever while they were in there. But she knew that wasn’t what worried the blonde teen. 

It was what happened in there.

She could feel his hesitation, his fear, his panic, everything. But knew that the only one who could bring Artemis back was Newt. And as much as she didn’t want to force the poor boy, she had to do it.

There was no other way.

_ Do it for him Newt. He needs you now. _


	24. Chapter 16: Heathens (Pt. 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! Here it is, the second part of the previous chapter. As promised, it is slightly longer. (I hope)  
> Anyways, things are definetly getting interesting and will continue to do so.  
> Also, THOMINHO FEELS!!!! Yes, with capital letters and everything XD.  
> About time I did something for those two, even if it's a bit short but meh...  
> Anyhow, I hope you truly enjoy this chapter. Comments and kudos are realy appreciated!

Newt was frozen in fear. His gaze still stuck on the open corridor. Dark and creepy, inviting him to come into the unknown. But he couldn’t move, not even an inch. And he was also pretty sure he had lost his ability to breathe.

Did he really have to? It had been so long since he had step foot in that cursed place. And he hoped he never had to do it again, but fate seemed to have its own plans. 

But… what if Artemis was actually in there? What if he needed his help? What if he was hurt? 

He exhaled heavily, letting out the air he had been holding back, as Newt forced his legs to move, his eyes never leaving the passage way.

Was he really about to do this? Go back inside such a dangerous and full of bad memories place for the one he loved?

His feet began to change pace, running as fast as he could into the corridor with the tiny bug right in front of him, guiding him through the darkness with its bright blue optics.

With each step, his mind kept whispering a single question.

Was he truly going to do this for Artemis?

_ Yes, yes he was. _

-

Ava smiled genuinely, watching as Newt chased after the centipede she was controlling. 

It fascinated her how far could someone go for the one they love the most.

With a sad sigh, she teared her gaze away from the screen to focus on something beside her laptop, a picture frame of an unrecognizable man.

“Love makes us do crazy things, doesn’t it?” She sighed, her eyes welling up with tears, until she wiped them away, focusing back on the computer screen.

-

Newt had no idea for how long he had been walking through that narrow corridor, and by now he had slowed down to a slight jog when his ankle began to hurt and the space became too suffocating.

He wondered for how long would he have to follow after the tiny bug, and where exactly it was leading him. The idea of it guiding him into a trap was still present in his mind, but he tried not to focus too much about it.

He tried to think about what exactly could’ve happened to make his boyfriend wake up in the middle of the night and run away, somehow finding that strange corridor and going into the maze.

A crazy but also possible idea crossed his mind. What if Artemis woke up in that strange state? The one Minho had said made Artemis take down three or more grievers by himself? Was that why he had run away? He tried to control himself, but couldn’t, and went to hide away in the deadheads? Also coming across this very same path?

Too many questions. Not many answers. Guess the only one with them was Artemis. He had to find him. Bring him back to the glade, by his side.

A sudden shriek pierced through the air, Newt’s eyes widening for a fraction of second as he stilled in his movements.

He knew exactly what that was. And it suddenly made the ‘rescue mission’ seem much more complicated and dangerous than it originally was, as reality came crashing down on him. It was still night time and he was venturing into the maze, he and the tiny centipede wouldn’t be the only ones in there for long. 

His mind began racing, along with his heart.  _ Grievers  _ could see him, and more than likely, they would try to hurt him, sting him...even  _ kill  _ him. Probably even before he could reach Artemis.

He shook his head. There was no time to think about this. The only thing he had to do was follow that beetle blade look alike to Artemis, and then go back.

If only life was as easy as that.

Way too soon for the blonde, the narrow corridor he had been running through came to an end.

He peeked his head out, just in case there was something out there. 

To his left, there was a dead end. So there was no path to go through.

To the right, that was another story.

Two ivy covered walls stood on each side of him as he fully stepped out in the open, seemingly intersecting with the dark blue sky littered in stars.

What the bloody hell was this place?

He stood mesmerized for a few seconds, watching the night sky i wonder as the centipede crawled to stand by his feet. Slowly, he lowered his gaze, until the sight of a tall figure at the end of the corridor caught his attention, staring off into the empty space, faintly illuminated by the light of the bug’s optics beside him.

Taking a silent step forward, the blonde crept closer to the strange figure. Praying in his mind that it was Artemis and not something else trying to lead him on.

He stopped a few feet away, a tiny gasp coming from him as the light from the centipede finally shone on the silhouette completely, allowing it to be seen much more clearly, revealing familiar light brown hair and black and blue clothing.

“Artemis...?” The second in command kept his voice low, not wanting to attract unwanted attention, and he hoped Artemis heard him.

Artemis turned around slowly, his soulless eyes meeting soft brown ones in the light of the centipede’s eyes.

The blonde’s eyes widened when he noticed the state his lover was in. Aside from the dark void eyes, his skin seemed covered in sweat and black veins could faintly be seen on it as well, travelling from his hands to the top of his neck, right below his chin, and even fainter ones on his left cheek.

Against better judgement, the trackhoe took a step forward, his eyes never wavering away from Artemis’. He even forgot about the tiny centipede robot watching everything, still illuminating both of them.

-

Ava felt relief course through her as she saw Artemis form standing there. Knowing he was okay made her racing heart and mind calm down slightly.

That is, until he turned around.

When she saw the state he was in, the woman couldn’t help but cover her mouth with her hands, tears welling up in her eyes again as she saw the boy’s condition.

Panic and fear were evident on her face as she forced herself to take action.

She had to warn Newt, tell him to run the other way. Artemis was way too unstable at the moment. If he got like that one time then...

She shook her head, her fingers typing on the keyboard as fast as they could, entering a command and hoping,  _ praying  _ that Newt understood.

-

A beep from behind him made Newt look back, watching as the bug’s optics began to blink. Tiny beeps and clicks coming from it. Fast and panicked.

The blonde couldn’t understand. What was wrong with it? Why was it behaving so erratically now?

“Newt…” The soft whisper of his name caught his attention again, turning to Artemis once more and forgetting about everything else. Nothing mattered more at the moment than Artemis and making sure he was alright.

“Arti? Are you okay? What’s wr-” He tried taking a small step forward, only to stop abruptly when a low growl mixed with something akin to a grunt of pain came from the older male.

“Nie zbliżaj się*...chętnie*...Nie chcę cię skrzywdzić*...” He could see Artemis’ eyes keep shifting back and forth, between cold black and the sky blue he loved so much. It made Newt realize he was truly trying to fight to gain control of himself.

And even though the blonde couldn’t understand what he was saying exactly, he knew he was trying to warn him. Trying to make him turn the other way. It felt like he was pleading him to run back to the glade, to safety.

Unfortunately, that was something Newt wouldn’t be able to do. He couldn’t leave his lover like that, especially not in the maze and not in that state.

“No, Arti...I’m not going anywhere. I’m not leaving you here.” He decided to keep his voice low for two reasons now. One, so they wouldn’t attract the attention of any grievers nearby just in case, and the second one, was that it made Artemis feel more at ease, his growling slowly disappearing the closer Newt got, along with the soft spoken words that left his lips.

-

Doctor Paige couldn’t believe her eyes. Everything that was happening was surreal.

Then again, she had seen that before.

That time, in which Artemis had gone into a similar state like that one, the only one that had been able to bring him back to reality was Newt. And another time too, and the next...Everytime that it happened, the blonde would be there, to bring him back to his senses, and it would work, every single time.

Realizing this, the blue eyed female typed something on the keyboard again, her eyes watching every single move they made.

-

The trackhoe didn’t even acknowledge the robotic bug stopping its incessant beeping, the lights no longer blinking and instead shone neatly on the two of them, allowing to see clearly again.

Still, his brown eyes never wavered away from his boyfriend. Still speaking kind words in a gentle voice.

He stopped walking when he stood right in front of the male. Still watching as the pupils of the taller male shifted back and forth, as if they couldn’t decide how to stay. Although Newt noticed too that Artemis’ form was much more relaxed, his shoulders no longer tense.

Tentatively, he brought his hand forward slowly - afraid that if he moved too fast, Artemis would go crazy - and let it rest on Artemis’ cheek, slowly bringing their faces together as Newt slowly pressed his lips against the older male’s in a gentle kiss.

The moment their lips touched, Artemis eyes cleared, the black ‘mass’ slowly fading and allowing the bright blue of Artemis’ usual orbs come back.

His body also changed, the black veins that decorated his skin were also fading, and the pale skin returned to its natural color.

As he came back to his senses, Artemis slowly closed his eyelids, his hands shakily coming to rest on the blonde’s waist, pulling him closer.

“Arti?” Newt’s voice made him open his eyes once the kiss ended, letting out a heavy sigh of relief and bliss.

“Newt…?” A smile broke from the blonde’s lips, who quickly wrapped his arms around the blue eyed male’s neck.

“You’re back!” He squealed, momentarily forgetting they were still in the maze. But he couldn’t help his joy at seeing Artemis finally awake and with him.

Artemis still stood confused, dazed even. Everything that had happened to him was a blur, but he too was glad that the second in command was there, or else he didn’t know what he would’ve done.

With a small smile of his own, Artemis wrapped his arms tighter around the second in command’s waist, though mindful to not crush the poor boy.

-

Again, a smile made its way to Ava’s lips, watching with a fond gaze as both males hugged, relief washing over her as her mission was complete.

A knock on her door made her look up, watching as Janson came inside her office, carrying a mug in his hand.

The man silently came closer, placing the cup of hot coffee on the table.

“Janson I-” She began, only to be stopped by the man’s hand laying on her shoulder.

“It’s okay, thought you’d like to drink something to keep awake.” With a grateful nod, Ava grabbed the mug and took a small sip. “How did it go? Did you find him?”

At the question, the woman placed the cup back on the desk, quickly moving the laptop so the man could see.

A fond smile appeared on Janson’s lips as he saw both Artemis and Newt hugging, thankful that at least, neither of them were harmed.

Though his blissful expression quickly changed when he turned to Ava, knowing he should tell her about his findings.

“I found something else regarding the events that happened and...I think you should know this Ava.” The woman became serious again, ending the program in which she had been in control of the centipede, closing the laptop and turning her full attention on the man.

“Did you finally find whoever is responsible for this?” 

“I believe I found a possible candidate to blame for this inconvenience. But you’re not gonna like this.”

“Janson, tell me.” 

“It’s one of our own Ava. The one who opened that passage and made Artemis go crazy...is someone from WCKD. And you and I both know exactly who it is.”

-

Both teenaers were so concentrated on each other that they didn’t acknowledge their only source of light disappeared as the tiny bug scurried away.

Though a sudden sound caught the light brown haired male’s attention, bringing his gaze upward  just in time to see a dark figure he knew too well crawling right above the wall opposite of them.

Slowly, he pulled away from the hug, glaring daggers at the slowly approaching figure, a sudden sense of protectiveness overcoming him.

“Arti? What’s wrong?” Newt was oblivious as to what was happening, since he didn’t have such special hearing abilities like his lover, he didn’t hear the approaching griever until a loud bang sounded.

Startled, he turned, only to be able to distinguish a big dark silhouette illuminated faintly by the moonlight, since the bright light of the centipede had vanished, along with the tiny bug itself.

Newt took a step back fearfully, standing next to Artemis. He almost tripped over a small rock, grabbing Artemis’ arm to steady himself and not fall of the edge. Hold on...edge?

With scared and slightly curious eyes, he looked down, only to see the very same sky below.

Wha- Where did this come from? How had he not noticed that before?

He jumped slightly when he felt an arm wrap around his waist again, pulling him to stand behind his lover, though at a considerable distance from the edge of the cliff.

Meanwhile, the  _ griever  _ kept coming closer. The long metallic legs of the monstrosity clicking against the concrete floor.

They were cornered.  _ Shit _ .

“Newt, give me my dagger.” The blonde complied immediately, not even bothering to ask how Artemis knew he had it, though he felt grateful that he thought in advance to bring the weapon, or else he didn’t know what they’d do. But it raised a question in him. What would Artemis do with-

Oh no.

He realized a little too late what was happening, and before he could try to stop the older male from doing what he thought he was about to do, Artemis bolted, releasing his grip on Newt for a brief moment to charge forward towards the griever, his eyes changing again to soulless black, this time, the string of blue was actually visible.

“Arti, no!” Newt’s shout was drowned out by the griever’s roar, as it charged against Artemis, the tail swishing back and forth with the deadly sting.

The blonde’s panic disappeared as soon as it came, watching in fascination as Artemis jumped over the creature, avoiding the tail by inches and landing right behind it. With a quick movement, he grabbed the tail with his bare hand, pushing it towards him then forward, sending the griever to the other side of the corridor with tremendous strength, smashing its body against the wall and leaving a large crack.

The creature stood dazed from the impact, pretty much like Newt, who couldn’t tear his eyes away from what was happening in front of him. 

His mind reminded him suddenly of what Minho had said during that meeting. He already believed their story, but to see it happening right before his eyes was another thing. A picture is truly better than a thousand words.

Shaking his head, he focused on what was happening. Faintly watching as the griever slowly recovered, getting up weakly only to fall back down when Artemis’ dagger, which he had thrown against the griever’s direction cut right through its skull, killing the thing instantly.

He turned to Artemis again, watching as he walked casually towards the monster, taking out the dagger covered in a slimy substance.

“Artemis?” His voice brought his lover back to reality, turning his once again sky blue orbs to him, faintly illuminated by the moonlight.

“I’m fine, I’m fine…” He didn’t sound too convinced, but Newt was glad that he could still talk. “Are you okay?”

At the worried and concerned tone of his voice, Newt nodded, offering him a smile that calmed his nerves, though not for long.

Another shriek echoed not too far away, both males becoming aware that another griever could come across them soon, especially since they made too much noise already.

“We gotta move.” Newt couldn’t agree more, jogging to stand beside Artemis, who quickly grabbed his hand, leading them towards the small entrance the blonde had come through previously.

But Newt stopped abruptly, turning to look over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of the small bug, to try and see where it went, but there was nothing else, just the dead body of a griever.

“Newt? Is everything okay?” Confused, Newt turned to Artemis, who had concern written all over his face as he stared at the trackhoe. “Are you sure you’re not hurt?”

Even though Artemis should be more concerned about himself than Newt, it still made the blonde’s heart flutter at the concern his partner had over him.

With a smile and a shake of his head, Newt muttered a soft ‘I’m alright’, as Artemis quickly pressed a loving kiss to his forehead.

Newt basked in the affection momentarily, before both returned to the task at hand, getting out of the maze.

For half an hour, they silently made their way back to the glade, and even though the corridor was small and tight, they kept their hands together, to make sure that the other was there.

-

Minho has always been an early bird. It was understandable though, his job as keeper of the runners forced him to get up and be the one to wake up all the other lazy runners who wanted to stay five minutes more. 

That also included Thomas. Sweet, cute and quite oblivious Thomas, who was sleeping peacefully with his head on his chest, eyelids fluttering but not waking up.

The Asian lifted his hand to brush away some of those short brown locks away from his face, watching in adoration as the brunette groaned, burying his face on his boyfriend's chest to avoid the gentle touches.

As much as Minho wanted to stay in and sleep on with Thomas by his side, he knew they had a job to do.

So, with much reluctance, he shook the runner gently, something unusual on himself, but Thomas was an exception.

“Tom...Tom, wake up. Come on sleepyhead, we gotta get up.” His response was a low whine, as the brunette’s eyelids lifted, revealing those warm brown orbs Minho had to come to love.

“Five more minutes…” Minho chuckled as Thomas closed his eyes again, snuggling close to him again.

“You know we can’t do that. Now come on.” It was normally easy to get Thomas out of bed, but today seemed to be especially hard, perhaps because he was way too comfortable.

“Ugh...why did I ever think being a runner was a good idea…” Rubbing his eyes to get rid of the remaining sleep made Thomas look all the more adorable to the keeper’s eyes.

“Because you wanted to see my handsome face perhaps?” Minho grinned when he saw Thomas glare at him playfully, sitting up slowly to stare down at him.

“What would I ever do without your sassiness and your sarcasm?” He asked, watching as Minho sat up as well, stretching his arms.

“Probably die of boredom.” The runner snorted, rolling his eyes as he attempted to get up, only to find arms wrap around his waist, pulling him back down.

“Didn’t you say we should be getting up?” The brunette asked softly, a soft giggle coming from him when he felt Minho nuzzling him.

“I changed my mind.” Deciding to tease the black haired male a little, he shook the arms around his waist, standing up before Minho could grab him again.

“Nope. Too late for that. You wanted to wake up already, so now you better deal with the consequences.” He answered, putting on his shoes under the confused stare of his boyfriend.

“Which are…?” The keeper asked cautiously, noticing the playful glint in Thomas’ eyes.

“No kisses for you today.” He watched as Minho’s face changed, ranging from confusion to shock in 0.5 seconds, getting up and throwing the blanket to the ground as he struggled to put on his shoes.

Meanwhile, Thomas made a dash for the map room, not noticing Newt’s hammock to be empty. 

Unfortunately, Thomas wasn’t as fast as Minho, who caught up to him once he made it to the deadheads entrance. 

He was suddenly pushed against a nearby tree, trapped between Minho’s strong arms on either side of his head.

It was a short run, but both were already gasping for breath.

Minho carefully stood closer, about to press their lips together when Thomas turned his head away, avoiding the affection.

The Asian could still see the playful glint on Thomas’ eyes, and with a smirk, he decided to enter the game as well.

Seeing as the young runner had exposed his neck partially, he wasted no more time in diving in, pressing butterfly kisses all over his skin.

Thomas’ reaction was wonderful, at least according to Minho, as he let out a gasp at the sudden assault.

The teenager tried to pull away, bringing his hands to rest on the keeper’s chest to push him away, albeit he didn’t put too much effort in doing so.

It did nothing obviously, Minho was far stronger than Thomas even when he used all of his strength, and with his own hands, he pinned the brunette’s ones right above his head, against the bark of the tree.

“Min…” Thomas couldn’t hold back a moan when he felt Minho sink his teeth in his flesh, not hard enough to draw blood, but enough to leave a mark that would linger for days.

Once he made sure that it was enough, Minho pulled away, only to stare lovingly and proudly at the dazed expression on his boyfriend’s face.

“You were saying?” He could see Thomas try to glare at him, but it only made him even more adorable than he already was. “You’re cute when you’re mad.”

“Shut up you shuckface.” Thomas groaned, before his hands, which had already been released from their hold came to grab Minho’s cheeks, pulling him down so that the brunette could give him a proper kiss.

Unfortunately, a shout that could belong to no one other than Chuck made them pull away fast, turning in the direction of the sound.

“Cockblock.” Thomas snorted at Minho’s mutter through gritted teeth, watching as the keeper glared at something in the distance.

“Come on, let’s see what’s wrong.” Both runners went towards the commotion, seeing the other gladers already waking up, with Jeff attending to a distressed Chuck, while Clint practically ran inside the medjack’s hut after the boy said something between short gasps.

“What’s going on?” At Thomas’ question, the young kid practically ran at him, as he was one of the gladers he trusted the most.

“It’s Newt and Artemis! When I woke up and didn’t see Newt on his hammock, I assumed he went to the medjacks hut but he wasn’t there, and neither was Artemis and-” Poor boy was gasping for breath, not being able to finish his sentence.

As Thomas tried to calm the kid down, he shared a confused but worried glance with Minho, then shifting his attention to his other friends, hoping that somebody knew what happened.

He was met with silence, no one knowing where their second in command and Artemis had gone to or why.

It also didn’t help their situation when a high pitched scream came from the medjacks place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Polish language:  
> \- Don’t get close… - Nie zbliżaj się  
> \- Please… - chętnie  
> \- I don’t want to hurt you… - Nie chcę cię skrzywdzić

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you like it, forgive me for any grammar errors, English is not my native language. But I will try to correct them when I can.  
> See ya!
> 
> -Ziphonix2001
> 
>  
> 
> P.S: This is Artemis' clothing in case someone wants to use it as reference, or you can imagine it as you like.
> 
> Links:
> 
> https://www.dresslily.com/men-tether-design-solid-color-product3156690.html 
> 
> https://www.dresslily.com/straight-leg-ripped-jeans-product1977674.html 
> 
> https://www.dresslily.com/splicing-colour-block-athletic-shoes-product1722311.html


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